Virtual Adachi Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #4 Shofuku-ji Temple

 

     Shofuku-ji Temple was founded by Kawahara Jiro in 1156 under the authority of Emperor Goshirakawa (1127-1192).

     Emperor Goshirakawa, who ascended to the throne on July 24th, 1155, took the opportunity of the death of Cloistered Emperor Toba (1103-1156) on the 2nd to secure superiority over his elder brother, Retired Emperor Sutoku (1119-1164).  Goshirakawa mobilized samurai to win the Hogen Rebellion (July 28th–August 16th).  Taking advantage of this momentum of his triumph, Emperor Goshirakawa and his aides, including Fujiwara Shinzei (1106-1160), issued an order of 7 articles to establish a new system.

     At the beginning of the first article, the order said, "The whole country is owned by one person.  Who else is allowed to show dignity privately?”  It clearly declared that the final ruler of public and private territories was the head of the Royal Family, either the emperor or possibly the retired emperor or the cloistered emperor.  This is based on the idea that the supreme leader is the highest ranking person in the public government system and, at the same time, is in charge of controlling and coordinating the interests of various manor lords, who are just private powers.  With the other 6 articles, they intended to control, regulate, and even restrict private manors.

     Kawahara Jiro could have been dispatched to Komuro, Adachi County, Musashi Province, as the enforcer.  The oldest record of the place name Komuro dates back to 1370 though.

Address: 5026 Komuro, Ina, Kitaadachi District, Saitama 362-0806

Phone: 048-721-1022