Virtual Adachi Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #13 Jumyo-in Temple

 

     Jumyo-in Temple's precincts could have been a holy place in the Kamakura Period (1185-1333).  The precincts have 2 itabi dated 1251 and 1267.  Jimyo-in Hermitage was founded by Monk Enshun sometime between 1469 and 1487.  Fukai Kagetaka (?-1533) changed the hermitage into a temple.

     Who were the Fukai Family?

     The Later Three-Year War was fought in the northeastern part of Japan in the late 1080s.  It was a kind of internal strife within the Kiyohara Clan.  First, Kiyohara Iehira (?-1087) and Kiyohira (1056-1128) fought against Sanehira (?-1083).  After Sanehira’s death, Iehira clashed against Kiyohira.  From the central government, Minamoto Yoshiie (1039-1106) intervened in the conflict.  The intervention brought victory to Kiyohira.  In the war, Kamakura Kagemasa fought for Yoshiie brilliantly at the age of 16.  In a battle, Chokai Yosaburo shot Kagemasa’s right eye.  Not wavering, Kagemasa shot Yosaburo back dead.  In Yoshiie’s camp, Kagemasa was suffering with the arrow in his right eye.  His comrade, Miura Tametsugu, ran up to Kagemasa and stepped on his face to pull out the arrow.  Kagemasa got furious and slashed at Tametsugu, saying, “A samurai would be satisfied if he died with an arrow wound.  But it’s humiliation to be stepped on the face.” Later, he developed Oba Manor in Koza County, Sagami Province.  One of his offspring, Kagehiro, lived in Nagao Manor, Kamakura County, Sagami Province, and called his family Nagao.

     On June 5th, 1247, when Miura Yasumura (1184-1247) lost to the Hojo Clan, he and 500 of his family members, relatives, and subjects committed suicide in the Old Kamakura 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #8 Hokke-do Temple.  The Nagao Family was almost completely destroyed in the incident.  A few survived.  When Prince Munetaka (1242-1274) became the 6th Shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate in 1252, the Uesugi Family followed him.  The offspring of the Nagao Family's survivors became subject to the family.

     The Kamakura Shogunate or the dictatorship of the Hojo Clan was destroyed in 1333.  Under the Ashikaga Shogunate in Kyoto, the Kanto Deputy Shogunate was established in 1349, and Uesugi Noriaki (1306-1368) became the first Regent of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate.  That was the start of the Nagao Family's good luck.  As the Uesugi Family spread their power across the Kanto Region, the Nagao Family's branches spread across the region.

     Nagao Kagetaka (?-1533) was born in Fukai Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province, and called his family Fukai.  He was killed in battle at Konosu in 1533 at the age of 21, and was buried in Jimyo-in Temple.  His son, Kageyoshi, was ranked with Kato Muneyasu and Oike Hisamune as a warrior in Konosu.  He was also buried in the temple.

     When Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) moved in to the Kanto Region, Matsudaira Tadayoshi (1580-1607) became the lord of Oshi Castle and Kageyoshi became subject to Tadayoshi, who changed the temple's name to Jumyo-in.  When Tadayoshi was promoted to Owari Province, Kageyoshi's third son, Sukekatsu, followed Tadayoshi but Kageyoshi didn't.  Some other family members stayed in Fukai and became farmers.

Address: 4 Chome−55 Fukai, Kitamoto, Saitama, 364-0001

Phone: 048-541-1635