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?

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