Virtual Adachi Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #10 Toko-in Temple

 

      It is unknown when Toko-in Temple was founded in Kano Village.  The temple's sango is Hikawasan, and Hikawa Shrine was invited to Kano in 869, so the area must have been developed quite early.  The shrine still has a spring whose water was said to heal diseases.

When Wakatarashihiko was the Emperor in the 4th century, he appointed governors in remote provinces and put up warehouses of tax rice there.  Etakehi, who was from Izumo Province, was dispatched to Musashi Province.

     In Izumo Province, today's Shimane Peninsula used to be an island in the Jomon Period (BC 14000-BC 10th century).  The Hi River filled the shallows between the Old Shimane Island and Honshu, and the Izumo Plain was formed about 10,000 years ago.  Rice growing arrived, and people there accumulated experience to change marshes and swamps into rice fields.  With this experience, Etakehi arrived at Musashi Province.  There, he or his offspring founded Hikawa Shrine, namely Hi River Shrine.  Etakehi , his offspring, his successors, and/or his followers tried to change marshes and swamps in the estuary of the Ara and Iruma Rivers into rice fields, and invited the god of Hikawa Shrine to their new rice fields.  As they developed new rice fields, they invited the god of Hikawa Shrine to the newly developed area.

     Toko-in Temple's precincts enshrine Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses.  The statue is commonly called Jobon-Josho Avalokitesvara.  Jobon Josho means the highest ranking.  What kind of ranking is it?

     Buddhism sorts people into 9 ranks according to what they have attained in this world.  Those who are ranked highest go to heaven promptly after their death.  Those who are ranked the lowest got to heaven after 57.84 billion years.  However, Priest Shandao (613–681), who lived in Sui and Tang China, proclaimed, "Rebirth in the Pure Land comes primarily through Amitabha Buddha's vow rather than one's own efforts."  His idea had a strong influence on Pure Land masters including Honen (1133-1212) and Shinran (1173-1262) in Japan.

     The Arya Avalokitesvara statue in Toko-in Temple is believed to represent the highest rank of the attainment due to the nine-rank system.  While Pure-Land Buddhists tried to conquer the nine-rank system by relying solely on faith in "the ocean-like vow singled out by Amitabha Buddha" (Shinran), those who believed in Jobon-Josho Avalokitesvara might have relied on Avalokitesvara.

     When the Ken-O Expressway, or Metropolitan Inter-City Expressway, was constructed, Toko-in Temple was slightly moved on March 17th, 2013, and it is located at the foot of the Okegawa-Kano Interchange.  So, we can still see or pray to Jobon-Josho Avalokitesvara.

Address: 1076 Kano, Okegawa, Saitama 363-0001

Hikawatenman Shrine

Address: 771 Kano, Okegawa, Saitama 363-0001