Trees In the Town

Virtual Kodama Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #13 Jofuku-ji Temple

 

     Jofuku-ji Temple was founded by Kuma Iwasaki sometime between 729 and 749.  Iwasaki was dispatched to Kyushu to guard the nation.  His wife, Matarime, composed a tanka poem:

My husband left with his favorite sword on his waist.  

I wonder in what month 

He will return.

The poem was composed on February 29th, 745, and was listed in the Man'yoshu, the Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves, which was compiled sometime after 759.  The Man'yoshu contains 20 volumes and more than 4,500 waka poems.  Her poem is in volume 20 as No. 4413.  It is unknown whether the temple's foundation was before his departure or after his return.  Besides, it is also unknown whether her husband returned or not, to begin with.

     Priest Kuyo, an apprentice of Kukai (774-835), changed the temple into Shingon Sect and renamed it to Jofuku-ji.  Kuyo also built an irrigation pond, seeing locals suffering from drought.  In such public works, Kuyo followed Kukai.

     The pond was named Maka-ike because Kuyo built the pond reciting Pancavimsatisahasrika-prajnaparamita Sutra.  The Panca part is pronounced Maka in Japanese.

     In September, 1579, Hojo Ujikuni (1548-1597) captured Hirokiyoshiwara Fortress.  Jofuku-ji Temple burned down in battle.  Later, Ujikuni revived the temple, inviting Priest Gangyo.

     The precincts have a Kannon-do hall which enshrines 100 Avalokitesvara images.

Address: 1375 Hiroki, Misato, Kodama District, Saitama 367-0118

Phone: 0495-76-2161

Maka Pond

Address: 474 Hiroki, Misato, Kodama District, Saitama 367-0118

The Ouchi Clan and the Ninbo Incident

      The Ouchi Clan were based in the westernmost provinces on Honshu Island, the largest island of Japan.  They were engaged in the last days of the official trade with the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) under the Ashikaga Shogunate (1336-1573), and opened up new days of smuggling with East Asia.

     Both clans might have planned to export some Japanese products and import Chinese ones peacefully, but they virtually exported war to the weakening Ming Dynasty.  The Ming government shut down the tally trading against Japan as a retaliatory measure for a while, but that ironically raised smuggling and even Wokou, one of the 2 main enemies against the Ming Dynasty along with Mongolians from the North.

     In 1523, when Yoshioki (1477-1529) was the head of the Ouchi Clan, an epochal and symbolic incident happened at Ningbo in Ming China.  The Ouchi Clan clashed against the Hosokawa Clan there.  Ouchi's trading ships had arrived at Ningbo earlier with a newer tally.  Hosokawa’s trading ships arrived later with an older tally, but bribed the head officer of the Office of Shipping Trade in the town to let their cargoes register first.  Having raged on it, Ouchi’s killed the leader of Hosokawa’s and burned Hosokawa’s ships.  Hosokawa’s Chinese crews escaped, and it added fuel to Ouchi’s flames.  Ouchi’s burned the buildings and houses in the town, captured the garrison commander, and took off to the sea.  A Ming flotilla, as a matter of course, chased them, but was defeated and its commander was killed.

     Who and what were the Ouchi Clan then?  To understand that, we should look at their history first.  The Ouchi Clan used to call themselves the Tatara Clan, and confessed to being a descendant of Imseong-taeja, the third prince of King Seong (or Seongmyeong) (523-554) of Baekje, the southern part of today’s Korea.  The clan inherited the Vice Governor of Suo Province for generations as a local powerful family.

     During the South and North Courts Period (1334-1392) in Japan, Ouchi Hiroyo (?-1380) laid the groundwork for the Ouchi Clan’s prosperity.  In the early 1350’s, Hiroyo defeated Washizu Nagahiro, who belonged to his hindered clan, and dominated Suo Province.  In 1358, he defeated Koto Yoshitake, and dominated Nagato Province, which was just west of Suo Province and was the westernmost province on Honshu Island.  In 1360, he was appointed the Guardian Samurai in Suo and Nagato Provinces by the Ashikaga Shogunate.

     Ouchi Yoshihiro (1356-1399) succeeded Hiroyo, and moved from place to place throughout Kyushu to fight under the North Court against the South Court in the 1370’s.  His rival, Shoni Fuyusuke (1333-1375), who also belonged to the North Court, was killed in conspiracy by Imagawa Sadayo (1326-?), who belonged to the North Court too.  After Fuyusuke’s death, Yoshihiro established his clan’s exclusive status and right in trading with Korea.  Bellum omnium contra omnes?

     The Kingdom of Goryeo (918-1392) and the Kingdom of Joseon (1392-1897) in the Korean Peninsula maintained relationships with the central government of Japan, but also turned their efforts to establishing relationships with powerful sea families and samurai families in Northern Kyushu and along the Seto Inland Sea.  It means the Korean Peninsula kingdoms employed realistic approaches to clear Earlier Wokou away.  Meanwhile, the Ming Dynasty accepted diplomatic relations only with “the King of Japan”, in this case the Ashikaga Shogunate.  

     Joseon accepted 2 types of official missions from Japan.  The first type was those from the King of Japan.  The second type was those from 5 “great chiefs'': the Shiba, Hosokawa, and Hatakeyama Clans, who were the Deputies of the Ashikaga Shogunate, the Shoni Clan, and the Ouchi Clan.  The Ouchi Clan defeated the Hosokawa Clan, and diminished the Shoni Clan.  The Shiba and Hatakeyama Clans were mainly based in the Eastern Japan, and not interested in maritime affairs.  Even Joseon's official missions had to pass the Akama-ga-seki Channel, which were controlled by the Ouchi Clan, and the clan’s cooperation was inevitable.

     Ouchi Yoshihiro (1356-1399) sent troops to the Korean Peninsula into Gyeonsang Province in response to Goryeo’s summons for help.  Goryeo later sent an appreciation mission to Yoshihiro.  Yoshihiro asked for Tripitaka or Palman Daejanggyeong in return.  The Muromachi Shogunate seemed to have connived their direct exchanges, regarding the Ouch Clan as an agency with Korea.

     Being afraid of the Ouchi Clan’s power, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408), the third shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate, provoked Yoshihiro to rebel against Yoshimitsu himself, and killed him at Sakai in 1399.  Yoshimitsu built Kinkaku-ji Temple, Shokoku-ji Temple, Rokuo-in Temple, et al.  He might have built as many temples as his plots.

     After Yoshihiro’s death in the Oei Incident, the shogunate appointed his youngest brother, Hiroyo, as the Guardian Samurai of Suo, Nagato, et al. Provinces, but Morimi (1377-1431), who was another younger brother of Yoshihiro and who was elder to Hiroyo, defeated and killed Hiroyo in Nagato Province in 1401.  Morimi kept sending missions to Korea until 1423.

     After Ouchi Morimi’s death in battle, his 2 sons, Mochiyo (1394-1441) and Mochimori (1394-1433), fought each other for the succession of the clan.  Although Mochimori once occupied all the provinces that the clan was ruling besides a part of the Ishimi Province which Mochiyo escaped into.  Mochiyo recovered the provinces with the support from the local samurais.  Mochiyo defeated and killed Mochimori and succeeded Morimi.

     Later, Mochiyo defeated the Otomo and Shoni Clans, and conquered Northern Kyushu.  When Ashikaga Yoshinori (1394-1441), the 6th shogun, was assassinated, Mochiyo, who was unluckily sitting in the same room, was injured, and died soon after.

     After Mochiyo’s sudden death in 1441, his 2 sons, Noriyuki (?-?) and Norihiro (1420-1465), fought each other, as the matter of course, for the succession of the clan.  Somehow or other, Norihiro overwhelmed Noriyuki, and Noriyuki became a priest and tutored Norihiro, and later Norihiro’s son, Masahiro (1446-1495).

     As the Kingdom of Joseon required Norihiro to send a mission in 1443, he realized that his father, Mochiyo, had secretly sent a false mission to Joseon.  In 1453, Joseon offered a tally to Norihiro but also demanded him to eliminate false missions.

     As Norihiro (1420-1465) and his son, Masahiro (1446-1495), tried to revitalize foreign commerce, they came into dispute with the Hosokawa Clan, who were powerful in central politics.

     In the meantime, the Onin War (1467-1477) broke out.  The shogunate power was divided into 2; the East Force and the West Force.  The East Force was commanded by Hosokawa Katsumoto (1467-1477), and that naturally led the Ouchi Clan to joining the West Force.  Ironically enough, the Ouchi army turned out to be the strongest among the West, and Masahiro, whether he liked it or not, stayed and fought in Kyoto for a decade.

    As the Onin War progressed, the East conspired against Masahiro, who was fighting in Kyoto about 500 kilometers away from his home country, and appointed Noriyuki, then a priest, as a clan patriarch.  Noriyuki returned to secular life in a sense, and turned traitor to Masahiro.  As the East had Ashikaga Yoshimasa (1436-1490), the 8th shogun, with them, most of Ouchi’s vassals at home swore loyalty to Noriyuki.

   However, Sue Hiromori (1455-1482), the Deputy Guardian Samurai of the Suo Province, alone rebelled against Noriyuki, defeated him in Suo first, then in the Nagato Province, and finally ousted him into the Buzen Province in Northern Kyushu.

   After the Onin War ceased in 1477, Masahiro returned, and concentrated himself on ruling and managing his provinces, boosting foreign commerce included.

   Sue Hiromori?  He was assassinated at the celebration party of the victory in Yamaguchi, Suo, in 1482.

     In 1479, Ouchi Masahiro (1446-1495) sent a mission to Joseon, and the mission members found out that other missions had been sent to Joseon during the past 10 years.  They instantly denied those missions’ legitimacy, although those missions might have been “officially” sent out by Noriyuki.  Anyway, after 1479, the Ouchi Clan sent missions to Joseon at 2-to-4-years intervals.

     Main exports from Japan were minerals such as sulfur, silver, and copper, lacquer ware, folding fans, folding screens, and swords.  Japanese copper was exported at a much higher price than sold in Japan.  China was chronically short of copper as its market economies were ever expanding.  In addition, Japanese copper included some silver, which Japanese refineries could not extract, but Ming refineries could.  As a result, Japanese copper was sold at a higher price than copper, and at a lower price than silver.

     The main imports were copper coins, raw silk, silk fabric, books, and ceramics.

     The Ouchi Clan devoted their energy to obtaining important exports in their domain.  They opened up the Iwami Silver Mine, the Sato Silver Mine, the Naganobori Copper Mine, et al.  They introduced cupellation, a refining process new to them, from Joseon, and drastically increased their silver output.  The increase was so large that their silver output once accounted for one-third of that in the world, and changed the commerce in East Asia dramatically.

     The Ouchi Clan also protected and promoted artisans such as lacquer painters, inkstone chisellers, sword guard engravers, etc.  They also invited artists like Sesshu Toyo (1420-1506).  They welcomed aristocrats who were down and out in Kyoto, which was burned to the ground in the Onin War, and even an exiled ex-shogun, who might be considered as a person of culture.  The clan has been sometimes criticized for devoting themselves too much to culture, but their promotion of culture obviously improved and promoted their exports.  Their cultural policies should be evaluated as measures for the promotion of local industries and exports.  As the number of exports increased, they could import more.  They also promoted import substituting industrialization: silk fabric.  The craftsmanship developed there at the time had a major impact on Nishijin-ori, or Nishijin Weaving.  Nishi-jin literally and actually meant the Camp of the West Army.

     As we have seen so far, the greater part of the Ouchi Clan’s foreign commerce in the form of exchanging missions was with Korea.  But commerce with China was more profitable.

     When the Ouchi Clan faced political and economical vital issues, they bribed shogun family with Chinese products such as Chinese paintings, Chinese bells, water buffaloes, et al.  Obtaining those Chinese products through Korea meant either to pay the cost of intermediary trade or to get quasi-Chinese products made in Korea.

     The Ming Dynasty’s Sinocentric tribute system made the trades with them much more profitable. The tally trade was a part of a mission to Ming, and was a system devised and monitored by the Chinese officers for their king.  The tally trade involved exchanges of Japanese products for Chinese goods.  Thanks to their Sinocentrism, they, or the king, gave back more valuable Chinese goods than Japanese products.

     The Muromachi Shogunate had been monopolizing commerce with China until the mid 15th century.  The shogunate sent missions to Ming 18 times in total.  The first 7 missions’ ships were all “owned” by the shogunate.  In the next 2 missions, big temples in Kyoto such as Shokoku-ji Temple joined the “ownerships” as well as the Yamana Clan, one of the three powerful clans that provided vice-shoguns by turns.  That is, the monopolization by the shogunate collapsed.  In 1447, Tenryu-ji Temple, which had been built by Ashikaga Takauji (1305-1358), the first shogun of the Ashikaga Shogunate, burned down.  The shogunate under Ashikaga Yoshimasa (1436-1490), who was the eighth shogun and who reigned from 1449 to 1473, was under fiscal reconstruction, and Yoshimasa sold tallies to raise funds.  As a result, the largest mission to Ming of all time was planned as the 10th one.  The Ouchi Clan could join the ownership for the first time as a local clan along with the Otomo Clan in Kyushu.

     In the 10th mission to Ming, which left Japan in 1451 and reached Beijing in 1453, Ouchi Norihiro (1420-1465) colluded with the Hakata merchants.  Hakata used to be the outer harbor of Dazai-fu, the Kyushu regional government which had civil, military, and diplomatic functions.  In the course of the subjugation of Northern Kyushu by the Ouchi Clan, Hakata town was burned down, and the new governor, the Ouchi Clan, and the Hakata merchants were much in need of the reconstruction money.  Norihiro and the merchants officially owned Mission Ship No.7, and also practically No.4, which was nominally managed in the name of Shibukawa Norinao (1422-1479), a Kyushu Tandai, a Kyushu regional guardian samurai corresponding to Dazai-fu.

     The 11th mission to Ming, which arrived at Beijing in 1468, had 3 ships.  Mission Ship No.1 was owned by the shogunate, No.2 by the Hosokawa Clan, and No.3 by the Ouchi Clan.  Although No.1 was owned in the name of Ashikaga Yoshimasa (1436-1490), the eighth shogun, Ouchi Masahiro (1446-1495), who had succeeded Norihiro, practically managed to raise the money for the equipment expenses of the ship.  The Ouchi Clan overwhelmed the Hosokawa Clan by 2-1.  The overwhelming ownership provoked a sense of crisis among central powerful families and big temples, and the Hosokawa Clan succeeded in ousting the Ouchi Clan from the next 3 missions to Ming: the 12th, which arrived at Beijing in 1477; the 13th, in 1484; and the 14th, in 1495.

     And then Ouchi Yoshioki (1477-1528) succeeded Masahiro in 1495.  By that time, the 10th shogun, Ashikaga Yoshitane (1466-1523), had been exiled by Hosokawa Masamoto (1466-1507) and was replaced with Yoshizumi (1480-1511).  After Masamoto was assassinated by one of his adopted sons, Yoshitane returned to shogun in 1511 with Yoshioki’s military support.

     Then there came the Nimbo Incident in 1523.  This time, Yoshioki overpowered the Hosokawa Clan.  He got a new tally from Zhengde Emperor (1491-1521) of the Ming Dynasty, and monopolized the ownership of the 3 mission ships.  After the Ningbo Incident, in the mid-16th century, the Ouchi Clan monopolized the ownership of 2 missions to Ming: the 17th, which arrived at Beijing in 1540; and the 18th, in 1549.  The Hosokawa Clan, on the other hand, had an old tally issued by Hongzhi Emperor (1470-1505), Zhengde’s father, and had no way but to send out a false mission.

     The Nimbo Incident shocked the Ming Dynasty government.  Xia Liangsheng (1480-1538) wrote, “The ring had a little less than 100 gangsters.  The armed forces of the local governments of Nimbo and Shaoxing  outnumbered the gang, but didn’t match them.  They behaved cruelly and brutally as they liked.  China is large and filled with people, but was belittled by Japanese, who are from cramped islands.  Castles were overrun, villages were destroyed, and officials were killed.  A commander was even kidnapped.  We disgraced ourselves, and will be criticized for national disgrace in the future.”

Trees In the Town

Virtual Kodama Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #12 Daiko-ji Temple

 

     Daiko-ji Temple was founded sometime sometime between 957 and 961 in Hiroki, Kodama County, Musashi Province.  The temple fell into ruin.  Ogura Motohide (?-1376) lived a secluded life in Yoshiwara Hamlet, felt sorry for the old temple's decline, and revived it, inviting Priest Gensho (?-1394).

     Who was Motohide?

     Ogura Sueo (1289-1336) was the first son of Sanenori (1264-1349), the second head of the Ogura Family, and Kinnaga (1294-1337), the third head of the family, was the  Sanenori's second son.   Kinnaga's offspring succeeded to the headship of the Ogura Family.  As it was in the Southern and Northern Court Period (1336-1392), Sueo might have been involved in a political or even military incident.  Sanenori, Sueo, and Kinnaga all first subject to Emperor Go-Daigo (1288-1339), who started the Southern Court, but then belonged to the Northern Court.  If Motohide really belonged to the family, his move to Musashi Province could have something to do with the incident.  For your information, the 24th head of the family, Hidesue (1872-1929), became a colonel of the Imperial Japanese Army.

     In the New Topography and Chronicle of Musashi Province, Mamiya Kotonobu (1777-1841) skeptically guessed that Isshiki Noriyuki, who was the lord of Hirokiyoshihara Fortress, and who repaired Tsuki Shrine under the order of Ashikaga Takauji (1305-1358), the founder of the Muromachi Shogunate, in 1337, had something to do with Daiko-ji Temple since he called himself Daidoji Nyudo after he became a Buddhist monk.  Nyudo literally means a Buddhist monk.

     A branch of the Isshiki Family of Isshiki, Hazu County, Mikawa Province, moved to Tamiya Manor in Shimotsuke Province in 1319.  As the border between Shimotsuke and Musashi Provinces was moved east at the beginning of the Edo Period (1603-1867), the Tamiya area belongs to Sugito Town, Saitama Prefecture.  It is not so improbable that a branch of a branch further moved about 50 kilometers east-north-east to Hiroki Village in a decade or more.   

     In 1438, the Eikyo War broke out between Ashikaga Mochiuji (1398-1439), the Kanto Deputy Shogun, and Uesugi Norizane (1410-1466), the Regent of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate, in the Kanto Region.  On August 15th, Isshiki Naokane (?-1438), the head of the Isshiki Family in the region, was ordered by Mochiuji to attack Norizane.  Naokane just followed the order.  The central Shogunate in Kyoto supported Norizane, and Emperor Go-Hanazono issued an order to suppress and punish Mochiuji as the enemy of the Imperial Court.  On September 4th, Mochiuji fled to Kamakura, and so did Naokane.  Mochiuji committed suicide on February 10th next year.  So had Naokane on November 7th, 1438.  When we serve a boss, we sometimes endure receiving unreasonable treatment.  Anyway, even after Naokane's death, the Isshiki Family as a whole didn't disappear.  It means there were some other branches in the region.  Noriyuki and his offspring could have been one of them.

Address: 2618-1 Hiroki, Misato, Kodama District, Saitama 367-0118

Phone: 0495-76-2174

 

Tsuki Shrine

Address: 3 Chome-17-25 Kishicho, Urawa Ward, Saitama, 330-0064

Phone: 048-822-2254

Hirokiyoshiwara Fortress Ruins

Address: Hiroki, Misato, Kodama District, Saitama 367-0118

Trees In the Town

Virtual Kodama Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #11 Hongaku-in Temple

 

     Hongaku-in Temple was founded in 1381 by a relative of Akiyama Mitsumasa (?-1351) as a shrine temple of Akiyama-Juniten-sha Shrine, which had been founded in 1204.  If Juniten, namely 12 heavens, comes from India, they are guardians of deva; Indra, Agni, Yama, Raksasa, ?, Varuna, Vayu, Vaisravana, Isana, Brahma, Prthivi, Surya, and Candra.  In the northern part of the Kanto Region and its surrounding mountains, Junisama, namely 12 lords, are/is believed in as a indigenous mountain god.  From the top of the hill where the shrine is located, you have a distant view of the Tokyo Skytree on a fine day.

     What happened in 1381?  Let me go back 2 years earlier.

     In 1379, infighting within the central shogunate broke out.  Ashikaga Ujimitsu (1359-1398), the 2nd Kanto Deputy Shogun, had an ambition to become a central shogun and tried to advance to Kyoto.  Uesugi Noriharu (?-1379), the Regent of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate, tried to persuade him not to, and finally killed himself to stop him on March 7th.  Ujimitsu still appointed Noriharu's brother, Norimasa (1335-1394), as the general of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate Army on March 21st.  Norimasa left Kamakura but stopped in Izu Province.  Ujimitsu finally gave up his ambition for the time being.  Norimasa became the next Regent on April 15th, and returned to Kamakura on the 28th of the same month.  The relationship between the deputy shogun and the regent became delicate.

     The Uesugi Family was based in Musashi and Kozuke Provinces.  Living along the border between the 2 provinces, there is a high probability that the relative of Mitsumasa was mobilized.

     In 1381, Ashikaga Ujimitsu (1359-1398), the 2nd Kanto Deputy Shogun, started suppressing Oyama Yoshimasa (?-1382).  He pitched a camp in Muraoka, Kumagaya County, Musashi Province.  The relative of Mitsumasa had to join Ujimitsu's army, and he might have wanted to rely on a religion, being scared by the shadow of war.

     Hongaku-in Temple's main deity is Acalanatha, and it also enshrines Cundi, who has 16 arms and appears to be female, as the #11 deity of the Kodama Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

     Japanese people love fan balloting.  In 1932, the To Shinbun, which is now the Tokyo Shinbun, a Japanese newspaper published by the Chunichi Shimbun Company, which publishes the Chunichi Shinbun in Nagoya, organized a balloting to choose the best 10 Buddhist Temples of Shinto Shrines.  Its result was published on December 7th in the year.  Akiyama-Juniten-sha Shrine was ranked 7th.  For your information, #1 Kawasaki Daishi, #2 Seizen-ji Temple, #3 Mitsumine Shrine, #4 Banna-ji Temple, #5 Tsunegi-Inari Shrine, #6 Kitaya Inari Shrine, #8 Myoan-ji Temple, #9 Higashi-Fushimi Inari Shrine, and #10 Samukawa Shrine.  The criterion for selection?  I have no idea.

Address: 1090 Kodamacho Akiyama, Honjo, Saitama 367-0213

Phone: 0495-72-1130 c/o Fukushima Petroleum

Akiyama-Juniten-sha Shrine

Address: 3566 Kodamacho Akiyama, Honjo, Kodama District, Saitama 367-0117

Kawasaki Daishi

Address: 4-48 Daishimachi, Kawasaki Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 210-8521

Phone: 044-266-3420

Seizen-ji Temple

Address: 2 Chome-8-18 Oshi, Gyoda, Saitama 361-0077

Phone: 048-556-3689

Mitsumine Shrine

Address: 298-1 Mitsumine, Chichibu, Saitama 369-1902

Phone: 0494-55-0241

Banna-ji Temple

Address: 2220 Ietomicho, Ashikaga, Tochigi 326-0803

Phone: 0284-41-2627

Tsunegi-Inari Shrine

Address: 3 Chome-16-9 Nakamachi, Kiryu, Gunma 376-0035

Phone: 0277-44-5972

Kitaya Inari Shrine

Address: 1 Chome-4-1 Jinnan, Shibuya City, Tokyo 150-0041

Phone: 03-3461-2971

Myoan-ji Temple

Address: 1729 Oka, Higashimatsuyama, Saitama 355-0001

Phone: 0493-39-0052

Higashi-Fushimi Inari Shrine

Address: 1 Chome-5-38 Higashifushimi, Nishitokyo, Tokyo 202-0021

Phone: 042-461-1125

Samukawa Shrine

Address: 3916 Miyayama, Samukawa, Koza District, Kanagawa 253-0106

Phone: 0467-75-0004

Trees In the Town

Virtual Kodama Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #10 Jikisho-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when the original temple of Jikisho-ji Temple was founded.  As its precincts have an itabi dated 1311, its foundation must be older than that.  In 1652, Toda Naomasa (1618-1656) changed the temple into their family temple and renamed it Jikisho after his name's another pronunciation.

     It is unknown who was buried under the itabi dated 1311.  By coincidence, Hojo Morotoki (1275-1311), the 10th Regent of the Kamakura Shogunate, died on September 22nd.  The 9th Regent, Sadatoki (1272-1311), died on 26th next month.

     On April 22nd, 1293, Taira Yoritsuna (1241-1293), the Butler of the Hojo Clan, was killed by his lord, Hojo Sadatoki (1272-1311), in the chaos caused by the Kamakura Earthquake, which itself killed 23,024 people.  Sadatoki replaced Yoritsuna with Hojo Munekata (1278-1305), who belonged to a branch family of the Hojo Clan.  However, Munekata was suspected of having an ambition to become the Regent of the Kamakura Shogunate and was killed by Sadatoki.  Munekata’s child  was put in a cage and was sunk in the sea.  Sadatoki tried to revive the power of the head family of the Hojo Clan.

     In the Middle Ages, samurai’s territories were divided among children, including women, but they were not necessarily equally inherited.  There were many cases in which the male who had the ability to lead the family inherited the main part.  This successor was regarded as the family head.  The remaining territories were divided among the other men and women.  While they lived independently, they gathered under the family head to form combat groups in times of war, and participated in ancestral and family rituals sponsored by the family head in peacetime.  What was inflicted by the shogunate and/or manor lords was imposed through the family head.  The family head exercised the authority to maintain and manage family rights documents, as well as inspect the territories of other family members.  For the family head, the power of other family members was indispensable to secure the necessary military strength as a fighting group and to expand the territory by newly developing wilderness, etc.  The Kamakura shogunate controlled samurai in remote provinces through samurai groups under the family head system.  Rewards were also given via the family head.  The family head system was closely related to the system of inheritance at the time.

     In the latter half of the Kamakura period (1185-1333), however, the territories of the samurai groups, which were given as rewards, began to disperse, and the blood relationship between the head family and the other branches became weaker.  Some branch families even became independent and chose their own family head.  In some cases, the family head system became a complicated double or triple structure from the point of view of the shogunate.  In addition, as territories were subdivided, each territory became too narrow to support a samurai family, who was supposed to deliver at least a samurai and a horse in times of war.  As the development of new land became difficult, it also became impossible to expand inherited tiny territories.  Under these circumstances, the family head took steps to re-concentrate divided territories.  One-generation inheritance was even created for the family head to get the dividedly inherited land back.  In opposition to such moves by the family head, branch families applied to the shogunate for recognition of their independence from the family head on the grounds, for example, that they were far away from the family head's location.  Many lawsuits were filed both by the family head and by branch families.  Some branch families tried to become subordinates of the Hojo Clan, the highest authority samurai clan in the shogunate, to eliminate the pressure from the family head, who was a direct vassal of the shogunate.  The confrontation between the family heads and their branch families deepened.

     As Itabi-style graves were popular among samurai in the Kanto Region, the people buried under the above-mentioned itabi must have been a samurai.  What did he see as a contemporary of the 2 regents?  Anyway, his offspring saw the shogunate and the Hojo Clan destroyed in 1333.

     Who was buried under the itabi?

     When the Taira Clan and the Minamoto Clan were fighting against each other severely, Akiyama Mitsutomo (?-1185) from Kai Province fought under Minamoto Yoshitsune (1159-1189) in the Battle of Yashima on March 22nd, 1185, and in the Battle of Dan-no-ura on April 25th.  On his way to the battlefields, he married a daughter of Taira Shigemori (1138-1179), without reading the situation.  After the Taira Clan was destroyed in the Battle of Dan-no-ura, Yoshitsune and his elder brother, Yoritomo (1147,1199), who later established the Kamakura Shogunate, were soon at odds with each other.  Mitsutomo didn't read the situation, and was put to death by Yoritomo in Kamakura for plotting treason against Yoritomo.

     Mitsumasa (?-1351) was the 7th descendant of Mitsumoto.  As he was the second son of Mitsusuke, he moved to Akiyama Village, Kodama County, Musashi Province.  As we have many Akiyama's as place names, it isn't clear if the place was named after him or if it was just a coincidence.  He appeared in the Taiheiki, Chronicle of Great Peace, which is a Japanese historical epic written and compiled in the late 14th century.  Taiheiki covers the period from 1319 to 1367, when battles and wars occurred one after another.  He was such a big name that the Akiyama villagers founded a shrine for him in 1638, nearly 3 centuries after his death, presumably for village revitalization.  So, they could have named their village Akiyama after Mitsumasa to boost their village's tourist industry.  After all, some 33 Kannon Pilgrimages were organized for the same goal.

     If Mitsumasa was the first immigrant among the Akiyama Family, the buried wasn't a member of the family, and the offspring of the buried could have been overpowered by Mitsumasa.

     Who was Toda Naomasa, the founder (?) of Jikicho-ji Temple?  To know who he was, we first look for Toda Munemitsu (1439-1508) and Toda Genba.  The Toda Family was from Toda, Ama County, Owari Province.

     Ashikaga Harutora was born on June 13, 1394.  At the age of 9, he entered Seiren-in Temple, on June 21, 1403.  On March 4, 1408, he became a priest, and was named Gien.  Ashikaga Yoshikazu (1407-1425) and Yoshimochi (1386-1428) died of a disease one after another, and the shogunate became vacant.  Chief vassals assembled at Iwashimizu-Hachiman-gu Shrine and decided the next shogun by lot on January 17, 1428.  And Gien became the sixth shogun, Yoshinori (1394-1441).  Yoshinori killed his younger brother, Priest Gisho (1404-1441).  He also killed his powerful vassals, Isshiki Yoshitsura (1400-1440), Toki Mochiyori (?-1440), and others.  Finally, he was assassinated by his vassal, Akamatsu Mitsusuke (1381-1441) on June 24th.  Ogimachisanjo Sanemasa (1409-1467) was accompanying Yoshinori, but narrowly escaped from being killed although he was seriously injured.  Sanemitsu, who said he belonged to the Ogimachisanjo Family, fled to Toda Village, Ama County, Owari Province, presumably seeking for safety, and called his family Toda.  Sanemitsu's son, Munemitsu (1439-1508), moved to Ueno Village, Hekikai County, Mikawa Province.  He further moved to  Otsu Fortress in Atsumi County in the same province.  in 1477, he took over the county's governorship.  Since then, he expanded his power over the county.  He first occupied Tahara Village, and built a fortress in 1480.  He built Nirengi Fortress in 1493.  The Toda Family's advance stopped there.  They faced the Makino Family, who were based in Hoi County, across the Toyo River.  In the meantime, Imagawa Yoshimoto (1519-1560) advanced to Mikawa Province in 1540's, and the Toda Family was basically destroyed in the middle of the 1540's.  After many battles, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) unified Mikawa Province in 1560's, and the survivors of the Toda Family became subject to him.  Yoshimitsu (?-1568), for example, survived.  He became subject to Ieyasu in 1564.  His 2 sons, Shigesada (?-1564) and Tadashige (?-1567) were both killed in battle.  Tadashige's child, Torachiyo (1562-1633), survived.  7 years after his father's death, Torachiyo celebrated his coming of age, married Ieyasu's sister by a different father, and was renamed Matsudaira Yasunaga.  As Ieyasu moved to the Kanto Region in 1590, so did the Toda Family.  Toda Genba had belonged to the same generation as Munemitsu, and his 4th generation descendant was Naomasa.

Address: 1148-1 Kodamacho Akiyama, Honjo, Saitama 367-0213

Phone: 0495-72-0866 c/o Komoda Electric Shop

Trees In the Town

Virtual Kodama Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #9 Entsu-ji Temple

 

     Entsu-ji Temple was founded by Sakanoue Tamuramaro (758-811) in 807, 5 years after his victory against northern foreigners in Mutsu Province.

     In 807, the Prince Iyo Incident broke out.

     Emperor Yamabe (737-806) had more than 26 sons.  He and his first son, Ote (774-824), were on bad terms while he and his 4th son, Iyo (?-807), were on good terms.  Ote became the Crown Prince on November 25th, 785.  He asked Fujiwara Tadanushi (760-817) for his engagement to Tadanushi's young daughter.  It was the greatest pleasure for Tadanushi.  Ote, however, had another intention.  As Tadanushi's daughter was too young, his wife, Kusuko (?-810), accompanied their daughter.  Ote was in his 30's. Ote and Kusuko had an illicit relationship.

     Yamabe died on March 17th, 806, and Ote came to the throne on that day.  Tadanushi was shunted to Dazaifu, Kyushu, in the year.  In October, 807, Prince Iyo was suspected of treason.  He and his mother, Fujiwara Yoshiko (?-807), were confined to Kawara-dera Temple in Yamato Province and forbidden from having food.  They finally killed themselves by taking poison on November 12th.  Without external troubles in the north, the Royal Family seemed to have forgotten even to conceal their internal troubles.  Tamuramaro might have realized that he should pray for the comfort in the other world of those who had been killed in northern external troubles.

     The temple was revived in 857, 1463, and 1592.

     In 857, Fujiwara Yoshifusa (804-872), in spite of not being a member of the Royal Family, was appointed as Dajo-daijin, the head of the Great Council of State, officially, formally, and legally for the first time in history.

     A general drought in Japan began in March 1459.  The drought continued on a smaller scale until 1460.  In the year, a period of abnormally low temperatures and heavy rains began in May and continued to the end of June.  Wet conditions resulted in insect proliferation, and the swarm of locusts took off in autumn of 1460.  By February 1461, the hunger deaths in Kyoto had reached 82,000.  The famine caused peasant uprising and fighting among samurai. In 1463, Hino Shigeko (1411-1463), the mother of Ashikaga Yoshimasa (1436-1490), the 8th Shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate, died.  Yoshimasa declared an amnesty, taking advantage of his mother's death, to stabilize the situation.  The Onin War broke out in 1467, and it led to the Warring States Period.

     It seems Entsu-ji Temple's foundation and revivals had something to do with the central politics.  Anyway, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) moved to the Kanto Region in 1590, and the temple might have been revived from its damages during the Warring States Period.

    The Great Depression in Europe lasted from 1873 to 1896.  The Lyon Raw Silk Exchange crashed in 1882.  The domestic price of raw silk in Japan also plunged.  It hit Chichibu County the hardest.  The loan sharks took advantage of their plight and made their lives even more miserable.  Some were forced to sell their daughters to brothels.

     In August, 1884, the Poverty Party was organized in Chichibu. They repeatedly submitted petitions for 10-year grace periods of their debts and 40-year yearly installment of their debts as well as tax reductions. Finally, on October 31st, they gathered with their farm tools and hunting rifles in Muku Shrine. The major part of their uprisings were suppressed on November 4th by the modern armies which had been financed with their heavy taxes.  Ono Naekichi (1862-1884?) led 500 to 600 peasants and advanced or wandered to Kanaya.  They encountered a 70-strong modern army.  After a shoot-out, 6 peasants of the party were killed and 9 were hurt, while 4 soldiers were injured.  Entsu-ji Temple was used as a field hospital.  Naekichi's body wasn't identified, but he was sentenced to 7.5 years' imprisonment in default judgment.  Officially, he is still a missing person.  Entsu-ji Temple is known for its beautiful plum flowers.  A plum flower is known as a forerunner of other flowers.  Was the Poverty Party a forerunner of other reformists?

Address: 84 Kodamacho Kanaya, Honjo, Saitama 367-0216

Phone: 0495-72-2088

Xue Jun and Riben Kaolue

      Xue Jun compiled Riben Kaolue, the Survey of Japan, in 1523.  He was from Dinghai Prefecture, Zhejiang Province.  He excerpted Japan-related texts from Chinese classics.

The prefecture was located in Zhoushan Islands, where Shuangyu, which served as a base of international illegal trade, was located.

Zheng Ruoceng (1503-1570) and Chouhai Tubian

       Zheng Ruoceng (1503-1570) was born at Kunshan, Jiangsu Province.  He finished writing and composing “Chouhai Tubian” (Maritime Strategy and Charts) in 1561.  It was published in 1562 under the support of Hu Zongxian (1512-1565).  Zheng Shungong’s “Riben Yijian” and Zheng Ruoceng’s “Chouhai Tubian” both aimed for eliminate Wokou.  They were respectively supported by Yang Yi and Hu Zongxian, who were both high officers in southern China.  Yet they could not work together.  They seem to have suspected that others were conspiring with Wokou to gain profits.  Even Hu, who replaced Yang, was later suspected of collusion, was purged, and had to kill himself in jail.  Can Hu Jintao (1942-), a direct descendant of Hu Zongxian and Ex-President of People’s Republic of China, survive today’s purges?

Zheng Shungong (?-?) and Riben Yijian

 

     Zheng Shungong (?-?) was born in Xin’an District, Guangdong Province, China under Ming Dynasty.  Although he was not an official, he was sent to Japan by Yang Yi (?-?), the military governor of Zhejiang Province.  When he was heading for Kyoto, he reached Bungo Province by accident, and was confined to Ryuho-an Temple, a branch temple of Kaizo-ji Temple, in Usuki County.  He was sent back to China in 1558, accompanied by the Otomo Clan’s priest, Seiju, who had studied in Daitoku-ji Temple in Kyoto.  By the time he returned to China, Yang Yi had been replaced by Hu Zongxian (1512-1565), who had sent Chen Keyuan and Jiang Zhou to Japan in 1556.  The two first visited Goto Islands in Japan, and met Wang Zhi and Mao Haifeng, famous Chinese Wokou chiefs who were based in the island.  Chen returned to Ming to report, but Jiang went to Bungo Province, and stayed there.  He sent his messenger priest to Yamaguchi and admonished Ouchi Yoshinaga (?-1557) to crack down on Wokou.  Otomo Yoshishige (1530-1587), who was ruling Bungo Province at the time and was an elder brother of Yoshinaga, might have been dubious of Zheng, or been more familiar with personnel changes in China, or just found Jiang easier to handle.

      Zheng later wrote and compiled a book of 3 volumes, “Riben Yijian” (A Look at Japan), presumably by the end of 1560’s or the beginning of 1570’s.

      According to Zheng, many Fujian people were sailing to Japan as early as in 1534, hearing from Japanese priests that they could gain massive profits from trading with silver.

      Even Annals of the Joseon Dynasty’s entry dated June the 25th in 1544 recorded the fact that Fujian people were sailing to Japan to trade silver.

      In Japan, a Chinese private trading ship, or a smuggling ship, was recorded to have reached Suo Province in 1539.  Later, some others got to Jingu-ji Bay in Bungo Province, Hirado in Hizen Province, Tane-ga-shima Island in Osumi Province, Akune in Satsuma Province, Amakusa in Higo Province, Saiki Bay in Bungo Province, and as far as Ise in Ise Province.  Silver obviously attracted Chinese smugglers.

Trees In the Town

Virtual Kodama Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #8 Hase-Kannon-do Hall

 

     The Kodama Corps made a copy of the Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha statue of Hase-dera Temple in Yamato Province and enshrined the copy in Kanaya Village, Kodama County, Musashi Province.

     Emperor Toyosakurahiko (701-756) built Hase-dera Temple in Nara in 727.  Hase-dera Temple in Kamakura was built in 736.  Ashikaga Yoshimochi (1386-1428) built another Hase-dera Temple in Katsuyama, Awa Province.  Chokoku-ji utilizes the same Chinese-character notation with Hase-dera, and we have more than 240 Hase-dera and Chokoku-ji Temples in Japan, and all of them enshrine Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha.

     The Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha statue, which has been believed to be effective for exorcizing bad luck, and its hall is taken care of by Kodama Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #30 Enryu-ji Temple.

Address: 216 Kodamacho Kanaya, Honjo, Saitama 367-0216

Hase-dera Temple

Address: 731-1 Hase, Sakurai, Nara 633-0112

Phone: 0744-47-7001

Hase-dera Temple

Address: 3 Chome-11-2 Hase, Kamakura, Kanagawa 248-0016

Phone: 0467-22-6300

Hase-dera Temple

Address: 409 Katsuyama, Kyonancho, Chiba 299-2117 

Phone: 0470-55-3109

Chokoku-ji Temple

Address: 448 Shiroiwamachi, Takasaki, Gunma 370-3332

Phone: 027-343-0349