Virtual Adachi Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage (the South) #23 Kannon-ji Temple

 

     Kannon-ji Temple was founded in Ukima Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province, in 1615 by Priest Shusei (?-1722).  He seems to have lived too long.

     Ukima, literally Floating Space, was developed on a small island in the Ara River presumably after Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) moved to the Kanto Region in 1590.  Its population increased and it had its own temple in 1615.  After the development, the island became a peninsula which is hooked up to the northern bank of the river.

     It started raining on August 5th, 1910.  Unfortunately, the rain was followed by a typhoon that approached the Japanese archipelago on the 11th.  It passed through the Boso Peninsula and left for the Pacific Ocean.  Another Typhoon landed near Numazu on the 14th, hitting Yamanashi Prefecture, and passed through western Gunma Prefecture.  They brought heavy rain to various parts of the Kanto Region.  The Tone, Ara, and Tama Rivers overflowed, resulting in damage in the Kanto Region of 769 people dead, 78 missing, 2,121 houses completely destroyed, and 2,796 houses washed away.  Kannon-ji Temple's priest and statue of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, barely survived on a raft.

     The central government decided to straighten the watercourse of the Ara River in 1911, and started its construction in 1913.  The construction was finished in 1930.  The new watercourse of the Ara River runs north of Ukijima.  In 1926, Ukijima was transferred from Adachi County, Saitama Prefecture to Toyoshima County, Tokyo Prefecture.  As a result, Kannon-ji Temple is the only one member temple of the Adachi Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage (South) that is located in Tokyo Prefecture.

Address: 4 Chome-9-2 Ukima, Kita City, Tokyo 115-0051

Phone: 03-3960-4605