Virtual Adachi Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage (the South) #22 Jofuku-ji Temple

 

     Jofuku-ji Temple was founded by Priest Ban'ei (?-1518) in Toda Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province.

     The Chokyo War was fought in the Kanto Region from 1487 to 1505 between the Yamanouchi-Uesugi and Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Families.  The Battle of Tachikawanohara on November 13th, 1504 was the final showdown between Uesugi Akisada (1454-1510), who was the head of the Yamanouchi-Uesugi Family, and Uesugi Tomoyoshi (1473-1518), who was the head of the Ogigayatsu-Uesugi Family.  It didn't matter which side won.  The Chokyo War caused the Uesugi Clan to decline, left the Kanto Region further in confusion, and attracted Ise Shinkuro (1432-1519), who wanted to become a warring-states-period hero.   Shinkuro had come from Kyoto to Suruga Province in 1469 to make a warring-state-period hero, and actually carried out his plan.  In 1516, he destroyed the Miura Clan and unified Sagami Province.  In those days, Toda Village could have been developed by the Kaneko Family.

     The temple's precincts have a hokyointo, a Japanese pagoda made in stone, which was built by Kaneko Zenshiro and Zenbe in 1790.

     On January 30th, 1788, 80 percent of Kyoto was burnt in a great fire.  The Imperial Palace burned down as well.  The Kaneko Family presented 1,000 Ryo for the palace's reconstruction.

     The Great Tenmei Famine began in 1782, and lasted until 1788.  In the 1770’s, there was a sharp decline in crop yield in Mutsu Province, which was the north-eastern region of Honshu Island.  To make the situation worse, Mt. Iwaki erupted on March 12th, 1783, and Mt. Asama on July 6th.

     Another cause of the famine was the government's economic policies.  In the first half of the 18th century, the Tokugawa Shogunate raised taxes which were paid by rice.  The tax increase not only exhausted farmers and peasants but also caused rice planting to move northward.  All in all, the farmers and peasants in the northern provinces became vulnerable to cold weather and natural disasters.

     In the 1750’s, the shogunate implemented a mercantilist policy to further increase tax revenue.  This was intended to raise taxes from commerce and business, but, as taxes were basically paid in rice, caused rice prices to soar.  Many domains tried to increase their rice-planted acreage and even sold local emergency stores of rice.

     The climatic, volcanic, and economic factors combined to result in poor harvests and serious famine expanded to a national scale as a result.  Twenty thousand people were estimated to have starved to death, mainly in rural areas of the Tohoku Region.  However, many local authorities were afraid of being accused of economic mismanagement, and did not report the full extent of the damage, so the actual death toll may have been far higher.

     The combined impact of famine and outbreaks of disease resulted in a population decline of more than 920,000 people across Japan between 1780 and 1786.  The Kaneko Family donated 9,000 Ryo.

     Jofuku-ji Temple enshrines Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses.

Address: 2 Chome-4-11 Nakacho, Toda, Saitama 335-0012

Phone: 048-441-6328