Virtual Adachi Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #12 Nyoi-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when Joraku-ji Temple was founded in Furuichiba Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province.  The temple enshrined the statue of Cintamanicakra, who usually has 6 arms and holds chintamani (a wish-fulfilling jewel) in one of the six.  The statue was listed as the #12 deity of the Adachi Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage in 1702.  The temple was discontinued before Mamiya Kotonobu (1777-1841) compiled the New Topography and Chronology of Musashi Province at the beginning of the 19th century.  When he did field work in Furuichiba, he found Joraku-ji Temple in ruins.  As every family was ordered to belong to a temple by the Tokugawa Shogunate, the discontinuation of the temple meant the discontinuation of a group of families in the village.  What happened before the 19th century?

     In 1742, a super-typhoon made landfall at Osaka and hit Edo.  Its storm hit the provinces between Osaka and Edo, causing many rivers to flood.  Along the Chikuma River alone, more than 200 tons of water was estimated to have flooded.  It started raining in Edo on July 28th, and the typhoon hit Edo on August 1st.  At dawn on the 2nd, downtowns were flooded.  The water level downed in a day.  On the 3rd, however, a gigantic amount of water and earth was carried down from the upper streams of the Old Tone, Old Ara, and Tama Rivers.  The Old Tone River flooded in Maiki, Akaiwa, Kitagawara, and Shinkawatori, and its water even washed down parts of Sekiyado Castle.  Over 900 people were drowned to death in the downtowns of Edo.  The water levels kept rising till the 7th.  It is said that the development of new rice fields along the rivers had narrowed the rivers and worsened the floods.  Part of Furuichiba Village might have been lost in the floods.

     When the temple was abolished, the statue was moved to Nyoi-ji Temple in the same village.

     It is unknown when Nyoi-ji Temple was founded.  Its main deity was Acalanatha.  The temple was abolished in 1873, and its Cintamanicakra statue and graveyard are taken care of in private.

Address: ２−32 Furuichiba, Kitamoto, Saitama 364-0003