Virtual Shinobu Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #19 Kannon-ji Temple

 

     About 1 percent of Buddhist temples' names in Japan are Kannon-ji.  It's no surprise that the #18 and #19 member temples of the Shinobu Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage are both Kannon-ji.

     Shimo-Masuda Village became independent at the end of the 17th century.  Its population must have increased under the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1867).

     The Masuda Family came from Masuda Village, Hara County, Musashi Province. 

     The Kyotoku War lasted for 28 years from 1454 to 1482.  During the war, Ashikaga Shigeuji (1438-1497), the Kanto Deputy Shogun in Kamakura, relinquished Kamakura and moved to Koga in 1457.  In 1458, the Muromachi Shogunate in Kyoto sent out another deputy shogun, Ashikaga Masatomo (1435-1491), from Kyoto for Kamakura, but he couldn’t enter Kamakura and stayed in Horikoshi, Izu Province.  From then on, there was a Koga Kanto Deputy Shogun and a Horikoshi Kanto Deputy Shogun in the Kanto Region.  Shigeuji exercised his power in the eastern half of the region; Shimotsuke, Hitachi, Shimousa, Kazusa, and Awa Provinces: while Masatomo was supported by the Uesugi Clan, which hereditarily succeeded to a Regent of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate, in the western half of the region; Kozuke, Musashi, Sagami, and Izu Provinces.  Their main battlefields were in the middle reaches of the Ara, Tone, and Watarase Rivers.

     Although Masuda Village belonged to Musashi Province, Masuda Shigetomi (?-1487) fought for a Koga Kanto Deputy Shogun at the forefront against the Uesugi Clan.  Shigetomi's main opponent was the Fukaya-Uesugi Family.  In 1478, he built Takami Fortress in Hiki County and moved his foothold there.  By that time, the Uesugi Clan had started infighting.  The Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Family asked Ashikaga Masauji (1466-1531), the second Koga Kanto Deputy Shogun after Masauji, to send reinforcements.  The Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Family had 2,000-strong cavalry and launched a battle in Takamigahara at the border between Hiki and Osato Counties against the Yamanouchi-Uesugi Family with the 3,000-strong cavalry.  Takami Fortress fell and Shigetomi was killed in battle, but finally the Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Family won.

     Years passed and the Uesugi Clan was destroyed by the Later Hojo Clan, the Later Hojo Clan was destroyed by the Toyotomi Clan, and the Toyotomi Clan was destroyed by the Tokugawa Clan.  It is unknown where the Masuda Family had gone.

Address: 866-1 Shimomasuda, Kumagaya, Saitama 360-0851

Phone: 048-532-4140

Takami Fortress Site

Address: 1125 Takami, Ogawa, Hiki District, Saitama 355-0306