Virtual Shinobu Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #33 Kichijo-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when Kichijo-ji Temple was founded.

     First, the Nara Weir was built in 1602 to supply water from the Ara River to the Nara Irrigation Canal.  And then, the other 5 weirs were built one by one over more than a decade: the Tamai, Ooaso, Narita, Misho, and Yoshimi Weirs.  The Tamai Weir supplied water to the Tamai Irrigation Canal, and the canal's water irrigated the farmland of Harashima Village.  So, the village might have developed their rice paddies in the 17th century.

     Kichijo-ji Temple has Kannon-do Hall in its precincts, and the Tokugawa Shogunate sanctioned a small territory to the hall in 1649, not to the temple.  It could mean the hall was older than the temple.  The temple was said to have been revived by Priest Eikai (?-1673).

All in all, the first settlers could have arrived before the 16th century with their Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha image.  The number of villagers increased with newly developed rice fields.  The Tokugawa Shogunate ordered every family to belong to a certified Buddhist temple.  The villagers invited Priest Eikai to found a temple and also asked him to take care of their Ekadasamukha image.

Address: 682 Harajima, Kumagaya, Saitama 360-0811

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