Virtual Adachi Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #32 Jigen-ji Temple

 

     Renge-ji Temple was founded by Ennin (794-864) in 826 at the southernmost edge of the Omiya Plateau. He carved Thousand-Armed Sahasrabhuja, Acalanatha, and Vaisravana statues for the temple. The area came to be called Mizuhata, namely Water Side. It might have faced the sea or marshes. Mizuhata Village was in Adachi County, Musashi Province.

     However, tradition says that Bhiksuni Yao built a hermitage in 645, enshrining Ksitigarbha.  Bhiksuni Yao was born in Komatsubara, Wakasa Province. She lived a secluded life in Kuin-ji Temple at the foot of Mt. Nochiseyama. It is unknown why she visited Musashi Province in 645. Years later, she visited Kyoto sometime between 1449 and 1452, and talked about the Genpei War (1180-1185) as if she had really seen the war. Yao means 800 years old. How old was she in 625?

     Bhiksuni Yao was the descendant of Areto, who was the ancestor of the ancient lord of Wakasa Province. She was born in 654 to the Takahashi Family, the head of Sei Village. She was white, beautiful, and clever. People worshiped her as the second coming of a god or a buddha. When she was 16 years old, the dragon king appeared as a gray-haired old man and gave her mermaid meat. After she ate it, she strangely remained the same as when she was 16 years old, even when she was hundreds of years old. At the age of 120, she shaved her hair and traveled around Japan, staying here for 50 years and there for 100 years. She enlightened people. She was therefore widely revered. On July 26th, 1449, she stopped teaching at Josui-an in Kiyomizu, Kyoto, returned to her hometown, and built a hermitage at the foot of Mt. Nochiseyama. She lived there for a while, and, at the age of 800, she entered a cave at the foot of the mountain and died there. People called her Yao-bikuni, Yao-hime, Long-lived-nun, or Jade-camellia-nun, because she was especially fond of camellias. Since then, men and women of all ages have visited this sacred place, praying for good fortune, longevity, and recovery from various illnesses.

     In the 1560's, Nagao Kagetora (1530-1578) in Echigo Province invaded the Kanto Region to solve their domestic starvation. Ota Sukemasa (1522-1591), who was the lord of Iwatsuki Fortress, took Kagetora's side. Hojo Ujiyasu (1515-1571), of course, attacked the fortress. In 1562, Ujiyasu set fire on Renge-ji Temple. The Thousand-Armed Sahasrabhuja statue hid in the Osmanthus heterophyllus tree in the precincts, according to tradition.

     The Ksitigarbha statue was also gone. By chance, it was dug out of the ground in the precincts. The statues went their own way to the fleet. There is no accounting for taste.

Address: 462 Mizuhata, Nishi Ward, Saitama, 331-0059

Phone: 048-624-4509

Komatsubara

Address: Komatsubara Obama, Fukui 917-0006

Nochiseyama Fortress

Address: Fushiwara, Obama, Fukui 917-0041

Kuin-ji Temple

Address: 2 Obamaotokoyama, Obama, Fukui 917-0052

Phone: 0770-52-1936