Virtual Kodama Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #31 Chosen-ji Temple

 

     Chosen-ji Temple was founded in 1474 either by Uesugi Akisada (1454-1510), who was the 11th head of the Yamanouchi-Uesugi Family and who was the Regent of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate, for himself or by Uesugi Norifusa (1467-1525), who was the 13th head of the Yamanouchi-Uesugi Family and who also became the Regent of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate, for Akisada.

     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 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 were Koga Kanto Deputy Shogun and Horikoshi Kanto Deputy Shogun in the Kanto Region.  In short, the temple was founded when the Kanto Region was in chaos.  However, the years between 1473 and 1475 were the lull between battles.

     The temple has bulletin boards issued by Takeda Harunobu (1521-1573) and by Hojo Ujikuni (1541-1597).  It means the area was sometimes ruled by the Takeda Clan and the other times by the Later Hojo Clan.

     Chosen-ji Temple is known for its beautiful Japanese wisteria flowers.  The oldest one has been found out to be over 650 years old.  It means the tree took root about a century before the foundation of the temple.

     The temple's main deity is Sakyamuni.  It also enshrines Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha.

Address: 901 Kodamacho Takayanagi, Honjo, Saitama 367-0224

Phone: 0495-72-3122