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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #28 Ryugu-ji Temple

 

     When Okuma Nagahide (?-1615) was still a child, his father died and he was raised by his uncle, Takahide.  When Nagahide grew up, he became a monk with his Buddhist name Jokai.  The Okuma Families supported him and founded Ryugu-ji Temple in 1587.  Ryugu means Dragon King's Palace.  In the middle of the Kanto Plain?  A neighboring village's name was Mizubuka, literally Water Deep.  The area still has the Hanasaki Flood Control Basin.  We can make a good guess what Omuro Village looked like at the end of the Warring States Period, when the temple was founded.

Address: 179 Omuro, Kazo, Saitama 347-0027

Phone: 0480-65-6093

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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #27 Hoto-ji Temple

 

     Priest Hoto built a hermitage for himself in Takayanagi Village, Sakitama Caounty, Musashi Province.  He named it Hoto Hermitage.  Priest Choju (?-1710) changed it to a temple and named it Hoto-ji.  Priest Yusei (?-1780) registered the temple with the Tokugawa Shogunate.

     It is unknown when the hermitage was built and when Hoto-ji Temple was founded, but, presumably, the hermitage was built around the beginning of the Edo Period (1603-1867), and the temple was founded at the beginning of the period.  As the surrounding area was developed and its population increased, the locals needed more graves and a temple to take care of their graveyard.

Address: 349 Kamitakayanagi, Kazo, Saitama 347-0101

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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #26 Enman-ji Temple

 

     The history of Enman-ji Temple is unknown.  Its statue of Thousand-Armed Sahasrabhuja is normally hidden from the public and used to be public every 33 years.  Today, the statue is displayed annually on the third Sunday of February.  On the day, children pass under a doll of a white horse to pray against measles.  Those who were born under the sign as that of the current year by the Chinese zodiac reckoning scatter seeds over a crowd to sow the seeds of fortune.  They hang 108 child monkey dolls on a string to pray for their home safety and posterity.  On February 17th, 2019, a procession of children in kimonos was performed, and another one will be performed in 2052.  

Address: 962 Kitaokuwa, Kazo, Saitama 349-1147

Phone: 0480-72-4286

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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #25 Fumon-ji Temple

     The precincts of Fumon-ji Temple have 6 itabi.  5 of them are dated 1260, 1267, 1270, and 1272.  The temple could have been founded at the beginning of the Kamakura Period (1185-1333).  As the itabi were built almost contemporarily, the temple could have been supported by several samurai families in the Shinozaki area.

Address: 942 Minamishinozaki, Kazo, Saitama 347-0017

Phone: 0480-65-2856

 

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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #24 Genko-ji Temple

 

     Nothing is known about the history of Genko-ji Temple.  It enshrines Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha as the #24 deity of the Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

Address: 2 Chome-15-9 Kuge, Kazo, Saitama 347-0063

Phone: 0480-65-2748

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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #23 Kichijo-ji Temple

 

     The precincts have itabi dated 1319-1321, 1321-1324, and 1334 with the temple name Kichijo-ji, so the temple must have existed in the 14th century at the latest.  However, according to tradition, it was founded in 1582 by Priest Kyozan (?-1625).

     The temple's main deity is Vaisravana, but the temple's name could mean Sri-mahadevi.  On April, 16th, 1914, the temple merged with a Kannon-do Hall nearby.  The hall's deity, the statue of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, is enshrined in the main hall of Kichijo-ji Temple now.  The Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage was organized in 1689 with the Arya Avalokitesvara statue as its #23 deity, yet Kichijo-ji Temple was recognized as the #23 member temple.  The temple's history is full of mysteries.

Address: 1180 Shimotakayanagi, Kazo, Saitama 347-0033

Phone: 0480-65-3124

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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #22 Kannon-in Temple

 

     The place name "Sone" often refers to a natural levee in a flood plain. 

     The Kurohama Shell Mound is just 10 kilometers south from Nakasone, and is located on the Omiya Plateau in the eastern part of Saitama Prefecture.  During the early to middle Jomon period, about 4000 to 2500 BC, the Tokyo Bay was far bigger and the plateau was a peninsula sticking out into the sea.  The Old Tone and Old Ara Rivers made the sea into marshes and then into swamps.  On a natural levee in a swamp, Nakasone Village was developed presumably by the immigrants from Suwa County, Shinano Province.  They invited or brought the God Takeminakata from Suwa.  Takeminakata has been worshiped as a god of wind, water and agriculture.  As Suwa Shrine and Kannon-in Temple stand side by side in Nakasone, the temple might have been founded as the shrine temple of Suwa Shrine.

Address: 1402 Kitanakasone, Kuki, Saitama 346-0036

Suwa Shrine

Address: 1905-3 Kitanakasone, Kuki, Saitama 346-0036

Phone: 0480-85-3848

Kurohama Shell Mound

Address: 1894 Kurohama, Hasuda, Saitama 349-0101

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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #21 Kannon-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when Kannon-ji Temple was founded.  The temple is officially abolished but its graveyard still remains.

Address: 681 Shobucho Niibori, Kazo, Saitama 346-0105

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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #20 Kichijo-in Temple

 

     According to tradition, when Gyoki (668-749) visited eastern provinces in the 720's, he stayed in Shobu, where sweet flags, shobu in Japanese, grew in colonies.  He dreamed of Vaisravana and Sri-mahadevi, who told him that many locals had eye diseases and that he should stay there to relieve them.   He carved a Bhaisajyaguru image and enshrined it in a hermitage.  Priest Koban changed the hermitage into a temple, supported by the Kaneda Family of Shobu Fortress, and named it Kichijo-in after Sri-mahadevi's Japanese name.  It is unknown why he chose Sri-mahadevi out of the three.

     When Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) invaded the Kanto Region in 1590, Uesugi Kagekatsu (1555-1623) fought for Hideyoshi.  Kagekatsu invaded the region through Usui Pass in March and reached around Shobu Fortress in May.  They burned Kichijo-in Temple as well.  In 1649, Priest Shin'yu revived it as its 9th priest.

Address: 655 Shobucho Shobu, Kuki, Saitama 346-0106

Phone: 0480-85-0654

Shobu Castle ruins (Ayame Garden) Address: 985-2 Shobucho Niibori, Kuki, Saitama 346-0105

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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #19 Eisho-ji Temple

 

     Eisho-ji Temple was founded by Kaneda Akitsuna to pray for the comfort of his grandmother in the other world and was named after the grandmother's posthumous Buddhist name.  It became a family temple of the Kaneda Family.  It burned down in 1878 only with its temple gate left.

Address: 582 Shobucho Niibori, Kuki, Saitama 346-0105

Phone: 0480-85-2342

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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #18 Nanzo-in Temple

 

     It is unknown when Nanzo-in Temple was founded on the southern bank of the Hoshi River.  It was revived by Priest Kaiin (?-1683).

     The Kyotoku War lasted for 28 years from 1454 to 1482.  During the war, Ashikaga Shigeuji (1438-1497), the Kanto Deputy Shogun in Kamakura, relinquished Kamakura and moved to Koga in 1457.  Kaneda Noritsuna followed Shigeuji.  Noritsuna was succeeded by Ujitsuna, Akitsuna, Sadatsuna, and Yoritsuna.  In 1458, the Muromachi Shogunate in Kyoto sent out another deputy shogun, Ashikaga Masatomo (1435-1491), from Kyoto for Kamakura, but he couldn’t enter Kamakura and stayed in Horikoshi, Izu Province.  From then on, there was a Koga Kanto Deputy Shogun and a Horikoshi Kanto Deputy Shogun in the Kanto Region.  Shigeuji exercised his power in the eastern half of the region; Shimotsuke, Hitachi, Shimousa, Kazusa, and Awa Provinces: while Masatomo was supported by the Uesugi Clan, which hereditarily succeeded to a Regent of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate, in the western half of the region; Kozuke, Musashi, Sagami, and Izu Provinces.  Their main battlefields were in the middle reaches of the Ara, Tone, and Watarase Rivers.  Shigeuji ordered Noritsuna to build a fortress on the Ara and Hoshi Rivers to prepare against the Uesugi Clan.  As the fortress was completed on May 5th, on the Sweet Flag Festival, 1456, it was named Shobu Fortress, namely Sweet Flag Fortress.

     When Shigeuji's grandson, Takamoto (1485-1535), was the third Koga Kanto Deputy Shogun, Sadatsuna was the head of the Kaneda Family and the lord of Shobu Fortress.

     During the Warring States period, the Kaneda Family was headed by Sadatsuna, Yoritsuna, and Hidetsuna.  Sadatsuna served Takamoto to guard a strategic point.  In the days of Takamoto and Sadatsuna, Hojo Ujitsuna (1487-1541) of Odawara, Sagami Province, advanced into Musashi Province.  In 1525, Ujitsuna sent a letter to Nagao Tamekage (1486-1543) in Echigo Province, saying, "Kaneda is in charge of Shobu Fortress, and Sir Shiro is attacking the fortress."  Around this time, Takamoto and the Yamanouchi-Uesugi Family were in conflict, so the fortress of Sadatsuna was attacked by Shiro, or Uesugi Norihiro (?-1551).  In this battle, Sadatsuna asked Shibue Saburo (?-1531) of Iwatsuki Fortress, an offspring of the Noyo Corps, one of the Musashi Seven Corps, for help, and Saburo immediately requested Ujitsuna to dispatch reinforcements.  Ujitsuna sent a 200-strong archery team to Shobu Fortress.  Takamoto cooperated with the Later Hojo Clan, and Sadatsuna seems to have been cooperative with the Later Hojo Clan.  On the other hand, Takamoto's younger brothers, Yoshiaki and Motoyori, were against the clan and against Takamoto's cooperation with the clan.  Finally in 1537, the 2 brothers were backed up by the Satomi Clan of Awa Province and moved to Koyumi, Shimousa Province, and Yoshiaki became a Koyumi Kanto Deputy Shogun.  Sadatsuna was afraid that the Kanto Deputy Shogunate would become the Later Hojo Clan's puppet, parted from Takamoto, and followed Yoshiaki.

     Then, in October, 1538, Yoshiaki and Satomi Yoshitaka (1507-1574) allied their forces to fight against Ujitsuna and his son, Ujiyasu, at Konodai, Shimousa Province.  The battle ended in victory for the Later Hojo Clan, and Yoshiaki and Motoyori were killed in the battle.  Sadatsuna fought for Yoshiaki in the battle, and fled back to Shobu Fortress.  It seems that he returned to serving to Takamoto, handed over his family estate to his son, Yoritsuna, and withdrew from the front line.  In Yoritsuna's generation, the important role that Sadatsuna had played under the Koga Kanto Deputy Shogunate never came back to their family.

     In 1552, when Ashikaga Yoshiuji (1541-1583) became the Koga Kanto Deputy Shogun, backed by Ujiyasu, Yoritsuna became subject to Yoshiuji.  In 1560, Nagao Kagetora (1530-1578) brought Yoshiuji's elder brother, Fujiuji, to Koga.  Yoritsuna consistently followed Yoshiuji, and received the land in Kasahaneda, Musashi Province, in 1564 under the order of the Later Hojo Clan.  In this way, the Kaneda Family became subject to the clan through Yoshiuji.  As a result, Shobu Fortress was attacked by Kagetora.  In 1574, when Kagetora attacked Sekiyado Castle, Shobu Fortress, whose lord was Yoritsuna's son, Hidetsuna, was thoroughly set on fire along with Kisai and Iwatsuki Fortresses.

      On the New Year of 1578, Hidetsuna gave his customary New Year's greetings to Yoshiuji.  It means Hidetsuna still maintained his position as a vassal of Koga Kanto Deputy Shogun.  However, the Koga Kanto Deputy Shogunate practically ended with the death of Yoshiuji in 1581.  At this point, Hidetsuna became subject to Narita Ujinaga (1542-1549) of Oshi Castle, who was a vassal of the Later Hojo Clan.

     As Nanzo-in Temple's sango is Atagosan and its main deity is Acalanatha, it might have been founded by samurai.  As it was located northwest of Shobu Fortress, it could have functioned as a branch fort for the fortress.  It is unknown who was its original founder.

     When the Later Hojo Clan was destroyed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) in 1590, Hidetsuna abolished the fortress, became a farmer, and called his family Otsuka, with the graves of the Kaneda Family left in the Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #19 Eisho-ji Temple. 

Address: 2585 Shobucho Niibori, Kuki, Saitama 346-0105

Phone: 0480-85-1699

Shobu Castle ruins (Ayame Garden) 

Address: 985-2 Shobucho Niibori, Kuki, Saitama 346-0105

Phone: 0480-85-1111

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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #17 Konzo-in Temple

 

     Konzo-in Temple was founded by Priest Yuen (?-1615) in Tomuro Village, Sakitama County, Musashi Province.  The temple used to have a main hall which enshrined Amitabha and a Kannon-do Hall which enshrined Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha.  In 1945, they changed the Kannon-do Hall into a new main hall which enshrines both the Buddhist images.

     Tomuro Chikahisa was the lord of Kisai Castle in the middle of the 14th century.  It is uncertain whether the Tomuro Family lived in Tomuro Village.

     Sano Mototsuna (?-1238) was a son of Ashikaga Aritsuna (?-1186).  He fought for Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199) and contributed to Yoritomo's establishing the Kamakura Shogunate.  Mototsuna's family name was Ashikaga, which was also used by a powerful branch family of the Minamoto Clan, and he started calling his family Sano, using the place name of where he lived.  One of the offspring, Sano Chikatsuna, wasn't the oldest son.  He lived in Tomuro Village, Aso County, Shimotsuke Province, and called his family Tomuro.  4 generations later, Tomuro Chikahisa wasn't the oldest son, and moved to Sakitama County, Musashi Province, and became the lord of Kisai Castle in the middle of the 14th century according to Tahara Zokufu, which was compiled by Sashiya Sahei in November, 1883.  It is unknown whether he was inducted peacefully, by marriage for example, or militarily.

     In ancient times, there used to be the Musashi Seven Corps. The most part of Musashi Province was plateaus deeply covered with volcanic-ash soil, which was suitable for stock farming, not for rice growing. In ancient times, many of the naturalized Silla people then were sent to Musashi Province, and engaged in the stock farming. That stimulated people there, and many stock farms were set up, including 6 imperial stock farms. The custodians of those farms later formed small-scale would-be-samurai families. By marriage, those would-be-samurai families composed 7 corps on the Musashi Plateaus.

     Some say the Seven Corps were the Yokoyama, Inomata, Kodama, Tan, Nishi, Noyo, and Murayama Corps.  Others include Tsuzuki and Kisai Corps, replacing the Noyo and Murayama Corps.

     It is largely believed that the Musashi Seven Corps Genealogy was compiled by the end of the Kamakura Period.  There actually might have been 9 corps, and Kisai Corps were the smallest and weakest corps and its history is almost unknowable.  It is uncertain whether they lived around Kisai Castle, which were built in medieval days.  Some claimed that they used to directly belong to empresses.

     The "bemin system" was a social system in ancient Japan.  It divided the population into bemin and heimin, common people.  The bemin people were governed by the nobility and the heimin people were governed directly by the central government.  Some bemin people were descendants of local leaders and responsible for the royal household's food and security.  Those bemin people who provided food and security to empresses, kisaki in Japanese, were called kisaki-be.

     Kisai Iemori moved presumably from Kisaichi, around Keihan Electric Railway Kisaichi Station, to Musashi Province as an officer, developed a manor, and became the founder of Kisai Corps.

Address: 1019 Tomuro, Kazo, Saitama 347-0116

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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #16 Kannon-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when Kannon-ji Temple was founded.  It was revived by Priest Tetsuso (?-1650).  The precincts have Kannon-do Hall, which enshrines Cintamanicakra, who usually has 6 arms and holds chintamani (a wish-fulfilling jewel) in one of the six.  The Cintamanicakra image is the #16 deity of the Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, and is said to have been the personal guardian Buddhist image of a wife of the lord of Kisai Castle, which was located north of the temple and whose nickname was Negoya Castle.  Negoya is where Kannon-ji Temple is located.  Negoya, namely Sleep Cabin, is a dialectal word which was used in eastern provinces and which referred to samurai's houses at the foot of a mountain castle.  Later, the word came to be used to mention a samurai town around a castle.

     Tomuro Chikahisa was the lord of Kisai Castle in the middle of the 14th century.  At the beginning of the 16th century, Oda Akiie (?-1539) occupied the castle.  He adopted Tomooki, a son of Narita Chikayasu (?-1545).  When Tokugawa Ieyasu moved to the Kanto Region in 1590, Matsudaira Yasushige (1568-1640) moved in.  It wasn't recorded whose wife presented the image to the temple presumably after her death.  As Yasushige was promoted to Kasama, Hitachi Province, in 1601, to Sasayama, Tamba Province, in 1608, and then to Kishiwada, Izumi Province, 1619, it might have been Tomooki's wife who had the image.

     Kisai Castle was seized by Uesugi Kagetora (1530-1578) in 1563.  Some say Tomooki killed himself, some others say he was killed, and the others say he surrendered.  As the Cintamanicakra statue became famous for answering prayers for breeding good horses, the wife's parental family might have been good at breeding horses.

Address: 638-10 Negoya, Kazo, Saitama 347-0104

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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #15 Daiki-an Hermitage

 

     The Masuda Family founded Daiki-an Hermitage sometime between 1573 and 1592, inviting Priest Nanso from Honei-ji Temple.  The hermitage burned down sometime between 1789 and 1801.  As Hideyasu was located just north of Kisai Castle, the Masuda Family might have been a samurai who fought for the castle.

The Site of Kannon-do Hall

Address: 743 Hideyasu, Kazo, Saitama 347-0102

Honei-ji Temple

Address: 1286 Hideyasu, Kazo, Saitama 347-0102

Phone: 0480-73-1050

Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #14 Hozo-ji Temple

 

     The history of Hozo-ji Temple is totally unknown.  Kamisaki has Ryuko-ji Temple, and might have had another temple too.  It isn't recorded which type of Avalokitesvara statue the temple had, and where the statue has gone.  Kamisaki has a 3-horse-headed 8-armed stone Hayagriva statue.  Used Hozo-ji Temple to maintain the statue?  Kamisaki has Raiden Shrine.  Used Hozo-ji Temple to be its shrine temple?

     Kamisaki is just across the Hoshi River from Sekishinden, where the Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #13 Choson-ji Temple is located.

Ryuko-ji Temple

Address: 1890 Kamisaki, Kazo, Saitama 347-0125

Phone: 0480-73-0607

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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #13 Choson-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when Choson-ji Temple was founded.  The place name Seki-Shinden, namely Seki Newly Developed Rice Fields, suggests the area was developed relatively new, presumably in the Edo Period (1603-1867).  The temple keeps 600 volumes of handwritten copies of the Large Prajnaparamita Sutras.  The sutras were handwritten and presented by villagers to the temple in 1724, when the woodblock-printed copies of the sutras were available in print shops.  That shows how faithful the villagers were.

Address: 129 Sekishinden, Konosu, Saitama 365-0004

Phone: 048-569-0311

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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #12 Shogen-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when Shogen-ji Temple was founded, but it was revived by Priest Shinsai, who died at the beginning of the 1570's.  As its sango is Inariyama, the temple might have had something to do with Arai-Inari Shrine nearby.  The temple has a Kannon-do Hall out of its precincts, and the hall has a graveyard but the temple doesn't.  The relations between the three is unknowable.  Anyway, what happened before the temple's revival?

     In 1558, the Eiroku Great Famine started.  In 1559, the sun blazed down and it didn't rain even in the rainy season.  Paddy fields dried up and were cracked.  Smallpox raged.  In the winter of 1560, after the harvest time, to relieve his domestic famine, Uesugi Kagetora (1530-1578) invaded the Northern Kanto Region. After the year, he invaded the region for 7 years to relieve his domestic famine.  In 1569, Takeda Harunobu (1521-1573) invaded the eastern part of the Kanto Region to relieve his domestic famine.

     The Kannon-do Hall and its graveyard are closer to the Hoshi River, which used to be part of the Minuma Substitute Irrigation Canal.

     Ina Tadaharu (1606-1653) changed the watercourse of the Old Ara, Old Tone, and Old Watarase Rivers under the Tokugawa Shogunate.   To save Edo from floods, Ina Tadaharu first stopped the Aino River, which was a bypass of the Old Tone River.  In 1621, he finished digging a canal to make the Old Tone River flow into the Watarase River, and started separating the Kinu and Kobai Rivers.  In 1629, he made the Old Ara River flow into the Iruma River, and the New Kinu River started running.  In 1630, the New Kobai River started running.  In 1635, he started building the Edo River and finished it in 1641.  Do you follow what I have said?  I wonder how many people understood his ultimate end.  Finally in 1654, 1 year after his death, the New Tone river ran east directly to the Pacific Ocean.

     Rerouting these rivers threatened that their original basins could have water shortages.  In order to secure irrigation water for the surrounding area, in 1629, Tadaharu built a 870-meter-long dam across the Shiba River, and created the Minuma Reservoir.

     In the 18th century, the Tokugawa Shogunate developed new rice fields to increase its revenues.  Izawa Yasobe (164-1738) reclaimed the reservoir and dug the Minuma Substitute Irrigation Canal instead.

Address: 185 Arai, Konosu, Saitama 365-0011

Shogenji-Kannon-do Hall

Address: 190 Arai, Konosu, Saitama 365-0011

Arai-Inari Shrine

Address: 226 Arai, Konosu, Saitama 365-0011

Phone: 048-542-7293

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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #11 Zensho-ji Temple

 

     Zensho-ji Temple was founded by Priest Sogin (?-1595) when Toyotomi Hideyoshi was going to unite the whole of Japan under his dictatorship.  It is unknown whether its foundation was before Tokugawa Ieyasu moved into the Kanto Region in 1590 or after.

Address: 147 Sakai, Konosu, Saitama 365-0013

Phone: 048-569-0810

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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #10 Kannon-do Hall

 

     It is unknown when Kannon-do Hall was founded.  Priest Yushun (?-1696), who was from Dewa Province, and who was a member of the Daijoji Family there, revived the hall.

     Tomuro Chikahisa was the lord of Kisai Castle in the middle of the 14th century.  At the beginning of the 16th century, Oda Akiie (?-1539) occupied the castle.  He adopted Tomooki, a son of Narita Chikayasu (?-1545).  When Tokugawa Ieyasu moved to the Kanto Region in 1590, Matsudaira Yasushige (1568-1640) moved in.  Kannon-do Hall still keeps the lords' Buddhist Tablets.  Today, one of the Hagiwara Families around the hall maintains the hall.

Address: 501 Nakanome, Kazo, Saitama 347-0124

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Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #9 Kasahara-Kannon-do Hall

 

     In 534, Kasahara Omi and his cousin, Kasahara Oki, competed for the hegemony in Musashi Province.  Omi was afraid that Oki would kill him with help from Oguma in Kozuke Province.  Omi flew to the central capital, and asked the central government for help.  The government destroyed Oki.  Omi offered 4 manors, Yokomi, Tachibana, Tama, and Kuraki.

The Kasahara Family might have been based in Kasahara.

     The iron Inariyama burial-mound sword was excavated at the Inariyama Burial Mound in Gyoda City, Saitama Prefecture, in 1968.  The inscription gives a date of 471 and the name of the person buried in the tomb as Owake, and also mentions a person whose name was Ohatsuse-Wakatakeru-no-mikoto.

     Emperor Wakatakeru is supposed to have mounted the throne either in 456 or 458.  It is clear that Wakatakeru gave the sword to Owake, but it isn't evident whether Owake was buried under the mound or not.  A contemporary sword was excavated from the Eta Funayama Burial Mound in Kumamoto Prefecture in 1873.  The sword was given to a civil officer while Owake was a military officer.  Owake might have been buried under the mound, or the sword could have been passed to someone who was buried there. 

     It is unknowable if the Kasahara Family was the offspring of those who were buried under Inariyama Burial Mound.   It is also unknown if the family has something to do with the place name Kasahara as Kasahara is a very common place name in Japan.  We used to have several Kasahara Villages even after the Meiji Restoration. 

     Shimo-Kasahara Village, namely Lower Kasahara Village, was developed along the north bank of of the Old Ara River in Sakitama County, Musashi Province.  The locals enshrined the Buddhist image of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses.

     When Mamiya Kotonobu compiled the New Topography and Chronology of Musashi Province, the hall was owned by Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #8 Kannon-ji Temple.  I wonder how many Avalokitesvara statues the area had.

Address: 1710 Kasahara, Konosu, Saitama 365-0023

Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #8 Kannon-ji Temple

 

     In the Jomon Period, the Omiya Plateau used to be a peninsula which stuck out into the sea.  The Old Watarase River ran along the eastern side of the peninsula, and the Old Tone River ran along the western side of the peninsula.  In the meanwhile, the ongoing process of the Kanto Plain's tectonic extension continued and the plain's central region gradually sank.  Finally, the Old Tone River broke the peninsula around today's Kazo City to the east.  The rivers and their alluvium made the peninsula a triangle plateau in the Kanto Plain.  In ancient times, Adachi County was organized under Musashi Province around the plateau.

     Kamiyatsu Village, namely Upper Valley Village, was developed at the north-east edge of the Omiya Plateau.  In the Edo Period, the wetland at the foot of the plateau was developed, and Shimo-Kamiyatsu Village, namely Lower Upper Valley Village, became independent at the turn of the 18th century.  The villagers gathered Buddhist halls and founded Kannon-ji Temple as theri aggregate.  As a result, its main hall enshrines Avalokitesvara, more specifically Cintamanicakra, who usually has 6 arms and holds chintamani (a wish-fulfilling jewel) in one of the six, and yet it has another hall for Avalokitesvara.

Address: 295 Kamiya, Konosu, Saitama 365-0027

Trees In the Town

Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #7 Mida-Kannon-do Hall

 

     According to tradition, Mida-Kannon-do Hall was founded by Minamoto Tsuna (953-1025) in 987, enshrining the personal guardian Buddhist image of Minamoto Tsunemoto (?-961), who was Tsuna's grandfather.  The image had been relayed by Tsuna's father, Tsuko (891-942).  According to the New Topography and Chronology of Musashi Province, which was compiled by Mamiya Kotonobu (1777-1841), the deity had been the personal guardian Buddhist image of Minamoto Yoriyoshi, whose history is totally unknown.

     Minamoto Tsuko (891-942) became the governor of Musashi Province.  His son, Atsuru (933-953), was born in Mida Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province, while Tsuko was the governor.  Atsuru died on March 8th before his son, Tsuna, was born.  Tsuna moved to Watanabe, Nishinari County, Settsu Province, counting on his mother's parents' family.  As he worked and fought for Minamoto Yorimitsu (948-1021), it is almost impossible that Tsuna was in Musashi Province in 987.

     Shuten-doji  is a mythical demon leader of bandits, who had his lair at Mt. Oe in the northwest of Kyoto Prefecture. 

     During the reign of Emperor Ichijo (980-1011), young children and princesses in Kyoto were spirited away one after another.  When the emperor asked Abe Seimei (921-1005), a fortune-teller, it turned out to be the work of a demon living in Mt. Oe.  The demon is called Shuten-doji because he loved drinking.  The emperor issued an imperial decree to Yorimitsu in 990 to hunt them down, and, in 995, Yorimitsu and his party including Tsuna left Kyoto.  Yorimitsu and his party disguised themselves as yamabushi, Japanese mountain ascetics, visited the demon's cave, and asked for a place to stay for the night.  Shuten-doji and his followers had received information from Kyoto that Yorimitsu and his party would come to defeat them, so they were wary and asked various questions.  Yorimitsu somehow cleared the suspicion and listened to their story over a drink.  Shuten-doji used to live in Mt. Hira.  He was forced to leave by Enryaku-ji Temple. He had lived on Mt. Oe since 849.  Yorimitsu served the demon a poisoned liquor called Shinpen Kitokushu.  Yorimitsu pushed the demon down and cut his head off.  Yorimitsu and his party returned to Kyoto with the head in triumph.  After being inspected by the emperor, the head was placed in the treasure house of Byodo-in Temple in Uji.

     Shuten-doji's wife, Ibaraki-doji, who was from Mizuo Village, Mishima County, Settsu Province, escaped and kept an eye for an opportunity for revenge.  One night, when Tsuna was crossing Ichijo-Modori-bashi Bridge, he found a beautiful woman standing still at the foot of the bridge.  She asked him to send her back to her home, and he let her ride his horse.  She abruptly grabbed his hair.  He cut off her arm with his sword nicknamed Higekiri and escaped.  Kitano Tenmangū Shrine owns the sword which has been handed down as Higekiri.

     In 938, Minamoto Tsunemoto (?-961) was assigned to the vice governor of Musashi Province when Prince Okiyo (?-940) was assigned to the acting governor of the province. They tried to carry out a land survey as soon as they arrived in the province.  Musashi      Takeshiba, who was the head of Adachi County, refused the land survey, saying, "A land survey has never been carried out before the arrival of the Provincial Governor."  Tsunemoto and Okiyo sent out soldiers to attack and plunder the residence of Takeshiba.

      Hearing this story, Taira Masakado (?-940) from Shimousa Province visited Takeshiba with his private army.  Tsunemoto and Okiyo barricaded themselves in Mt. Safuku in Hiki County with their wives and children.  Later, Okiyo climbed down from the mountain and gave an audience to Masakado and Takeshiba at the Musashi Provincial Government Office.  However, Tsunemoto remained on the mountain as he was dissatisfied.  In the office, a reconciliation was established between the two parties, and a banquet was held.  In the midst of the party, Takeshiba's soldiers surrounded Tsunemoto's camp.  Convinced that he would be killed by Masakado and others, Tsunemoto hurriedly fled back to Kyoto, and accused the Imperial Court that Masakado, Okiyo, and Takeshiba conspired to rebel.   Masakado and others sent certificates from the provincial governments of Hitachi, Shimousa, Shimotsuke, Musashi, and Kozuke dated May 2nd, 939, to Fujiwara Tadahira (880-949), the Prime Minister, stating, "the rebellion was groundless."  Masakado and others' explanation was accepted, and, on the contrary, Tsunemoto was detained on the charge of slander.

     In November, 939, Masakado occupied Hitachi Provincial Government Office, and then he attacked and occupied other provincial government offices in the Kanto Region one after another.  In December of the same year, he declared himself to be 'the new emperor' at Kozuke Provincial Government Office and arbitrarily ruled over the occupied provinces.

     Truth sprang from lies.  Tsunemoto was not only released because his previous false accusation came true, but also he was promoted to Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade, because of his merit.  Tsunemoto was appointed as one of the vice-commanders and headed for the suppression of Masakado's rebellion.  Before his arrival, Masakado was hunted down and killed.  Tsunemoto returned to Kyoto.  In 941, he headed to suppress the rebellion of Fujiwara Sumitomo (?-941), but the rebellion had already been suppressed by Ono Yoshifuru (884-968) when Tsunemoto arrived.  Later, he successively served as provincial governors of Musashi, Shinano, Chikuzen, Tajima, and Iyo as an expert of provincial administration, and eventually became the General.

     When Mamiya Kotonobu (1777-1841) compiled the New Topography and Chronology of Musashi Province, he recorded a tradition that Tsunemoto had resided in Oma.

     The residence site is about 95 meters east-west, about 85 meters north-south.  Mounds and dry moats surround the site on three sides except the west side, and the west side is believed to have been a swamp along the Ara River.  It might have been used till the Warring States Period, but it isn't clear how old it is.

     The foundation history of Mida-Kannon-do Hall is inconsistent.  Someone who inherited the bloodline of the Minamoto Clan, or someone who claimed to have inherited the bloodline of the Minamoto Clan, might have wanted to show off their bloodline and included Musashi-related historic figures.  Only the main deity of the temple, Horse-Headed Hayagriva, knows the truth.

Address: 3818 Mida, Konosu, Saitama 365-0062

The Site of the Residence of Minamoto Tsunemoto

Address: 942 Oma, Konosu, Saitama 365-0054

Ikasuri Shrine

Address: 3 Watanabe 4 Chome Kyutaromachi, Chuo Ward, Osaka 541-0056

Phone: 06-6251-4792

Ichijo-Modori-bashi Bridge

Address: Ichijo-dori Shukeicho, Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto 602-8067

Trees In the Town

Virtrual Shinobu Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #6 Kannon-ji Temple

 

     Kannon-ji Temple was founded sometime between 1596 and 1615 at the beginning of the Tokugawa Shogunate.  Although the temple was founded by ordinary people, its main hall is made of Japanese cypresses and has an elegant and magnificent style.

     The hall enshrines the 58.3-centimeters-tall sitting statue of Horse-Headed Hayagriva.  The image's hair stands on end with rage.  It has 3 faces and its center face has 3 eyes with its mouth open to show its upper fangs.  The other 2 faces' mouths are shut tight.  It has 8 arms.  The image sits with its right knee drawn and its soles put together.  The sitting style is called Rinpoche.

Address: 2160 Kusu, Konosu, Saitama 365-0014

Phone: 048-569-1455

Entsu-ji Temple

Address: 2110 Kusu, Konosu, Saitama 365-0014

Phone: 048-569-1455