Virtual Shinobu Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #10 Kannon-ji Temple

 

     Fujiwara Tsunemitsu moved from Kyoto to Chujo Village, Musashi Province, in 1137.  He married a daughter of a local powerful family, the Shirane Family, and he called his family Chujo.  His grandchild, Ienaga (1165-1236), became a samurai and belonged to the Yokoyama Corps.

     In ancient times, there used to be the Musashi Seven Corps. The most part of Musashi Province was plateaus deeply covered with volcanic-ash soil, which was suitable for stock farming, not for rice growing. In ancient times, many of the naturalized Silla people then were sent to Musashi Province, and engaged in the stock farming. That stimulated people there, and many stock farms were set up, including 6 imperial stock farms. The custodians of those farms later formed small-scale would-be-samurai families. By marriage, those would-be-samurai families composed 7 corps on the Musashi Plateaus. The Yokoyama Corps was one of the 7.

     As Ienaga was also a competent civilian officer, he became a member of the supreme administration in the Kamakura Shogunate.

     In the 8th century, rice fields were rezoned by the unit of 11,881 square meters.  Horizontal 6 units were called Jo, and vertical 6 units were called Ri.  Accordingly, the rezoning system was called the Jori system.

     After the Former Nine Years' War or the Early Nine Years' War (1051-1063), the Yokoyama Corps advanced to the Jori-system rice fields along the Tone River.  It means they tried to embezzle old rice fields.  Chujo literally means Middle Jo, so Chujo Village might have been located in the middle of Jori-system rice field area.  Even today, you can relatively easily find the site of the Jori-system rice field area with a map and a tracing graph paper.

Address: 2018 Kamichujo, Kumagaya, Saitama 360-0001