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