Clouds Over the Town

Virtual Musashino 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #3 Sanpo-ji Temple

 

     Sanpo-ji Temple was founded in Shakujii Village, Toshima County, Musashi Province, in 1394, at almost the same time as Shakujii Fortress was built.  Its original location is supposed to be in 5 Chome Shakujiidai.  After Ota Sukenaga (1432-1486) seized the fortress in 1477, he moved the temple to its present place where the fortress used to be located.

     Shakujii Fortress was built on the tongue-like height between the Shakujii River in the south and Sanpoji Pond in the north.  Unlike other fortresses, Shakujii Fortress was built not at the tip of the height bun in the middle of it.  Instead, Sanpo-ji Temple was built on the tip of the height.  It might have functioned as a branch fort of the fortress.  When Sukenaga attacked the fortress, he camped on Atago-san Hill about 700 meters west from the fortress.

     The temple's precincts have an itabi dated 1472.  It is unknown whether the itabi had been built where it is, in the middle of Shakujii Fortress, or it was moved with the temple.  For your information, Zenjo-ji Temple, which is said to have been founded in the 15th century, is located around where Sanpo-ji Temple used to be located, and it has 2 itabi which were built in the latter half of the 14th century.

     Emperor Go-Nara ordered Sanpo-in Temple to pray for quieting and protecting the country in 1547.  The Later Hojo Clan prohibited worldly samurai to intervene in its religious activities.

     The temple enshrines Cintamanicakra, who usually has 6 arms and holds chintamani (a wish-fulfilling jewel) in one of the six.

Address: 1 Chome-15-6 Shakujiidai, Nerima City, Tokyo 177-0045

Phone: 03-3996-0063

Zenjo-in Temple

Address: 5 Chome-19-10 Shakujiimachi, Nerima City, Tokyo 177-0041

Phone: 03-3996-4311

Trees In the Town

Virtual Musashino 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #2 Dojo-ji Temple

 

     Dojo-ji Temple was founded in 1372 by Toshima Terutoki (?-1375), who invited Priest Taigaku

     Who was the Toshima Family?

     Arimichi Koreyoshi was a subject of Fijiwara Korechika (974-1010), who lost to his uncle, Fujiwara Michinaga (966-1028), in political strife.  When he died on January 28th in despair, he said to his son, Michimasa (992-1054), "You should become a priest rather than follow others."  He also told his 2 daughters never to humiliate him by serving in the Imperial Court.

     Koreyoshi might have eavesdropped on their conversation and kind of followed Korechika's advice.  Or did he exercise his frontier spirit?  After Korechika's downfall, Koreyoshi left Kyoto down to Musashi Province.

     In ancient times, there used to be the Musashi Seven Corps. The most part of Musashi Province was plateaus deeply covered with volcanic-ash soil, which was suitable for stock farming, not for rice growing.  In ancient times, many of the naturalized Silla people then were sent to Musashi Province, and engaged in the stock farming.  That stimulated people there, and many stock farms were set up, including 6 imperial stock farms.  The custodians of those farms later formed small-scale samurai families.  By marriage, those samurai families composed corps on the plateaus in the province: Yokoyama, Inomata, Murayama, Noyo, Tan, and Nishi Corps.

     Somehow or other, Koreyoshi's son, Koreyuki (?-1069), succeeded in organizing another corp, Kodama Corps.  He seems to have been involved in the management of the Aguhara Stock Farm.  In 933, the Aguhara Stock Farm was nationalized.  It is unknown whether Koreyoshi or Koreyuki was dispatched to the stock farm as a local administrator or married into a local powerful family who actually ran the farm.  The number of Royal Stock Farms in Musashi Province increased from 4 to 6, and the number of annual tax horses increased from 50 to 110 accordingly.  Judging from the mean value, the Aguhara Stock Farm provided 30 horses to Kyoto every year.  Anyway, Koreyoshi and/or Koreyuki developed paddy fields in Kodama County, and became their owner.

     Kodama Corps had 100 branches including those with different Chinese characters with the same pronunciation: Kodama, Sho, Honjo, Asaba, Asami, Shinjo, Araya, Izumi, Sakaki, Inajima,  Nissai, Iwata, Ise, Imai, Urakami, Kozuke, Okawara, Osawa, Otsuka, Orui, Obuchi, Ohama, Oku, Okudaira, Okutsuka, Okazaki, Obata, Ogawara, Omino, Katayama, Kanesawa, Kashiwajima, Katsura, Kashiwazaki, Kita, Kuroiwa, Kurisu, Aoda, Kuragano, Kugezuka, Gugezuka, Gokan, Shodai,Konakayama, Koma, Shioya, Shimana, Shimakata, Shirakura, Komoda, Omoda, E, Edouchi, Ogose, Shimana, Takao, Takayama, Tako, Takezawa, Tachikawa, Hata, Chichibu, Tomita, Tomino, Toshima, Torikata, Yoshiasano, Naoshita, Nakajo, Nagatsuka, Nagaoka, Naruse, Nagura, Naito, Nishi, Niwa, Fukuda, Yasuo, Horikago, Hirukawa, Makino, Mashimo, Miyata, Mizokami, Mina, Musha, Makishi, Yajima, Yamada, Yamakoshi, Yamana, Hitoyoshi, Yoshizumi, Yoshijima, Yoshida, Yomota, and Shioten Families.

     The Toshima Family was based in Toshima County, Musashi Province.  The county was old and even listed in the Wamyo Ruijusho (namely Japanese Names for Things Classified and Annotated),  which was a Japanese dictionary compiled in 938.  The family might have been a powerful county official who was hired locally.  At the end of the Ancient Japan, the family practically ruled the county.  The family first appeared in documents when the Minamoto Clan started their revengeful wars.  In 1180, Toshima Kiyomoto and Kiyoshige (1161-1238) joined the army of Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199).  After the collapse of the Kamakura Shogunate in 1333, the family started ruling Shakujii Village privately.  They built Shakujii Fortress at the end of the 14th century.

     Meanwhile, Toshima Kagemura adopted Hojo Terutoki (?-1375), a grandson of Takatoki (1304-1333), the 14th and last Regent of the Kamakura Shogunate.

     Dojo-ji Temple burned down in battle when the Toshima Family was destroyed by Ota Sukenaga (1432-1486) in 1477.  It was revived under the Later Hojo Clan, but declined after the clan's collapse in 1590.  Priest Tokuo revived the temple again in 1598.  The temple's main deity is Amitabha and it also enshrines the statue of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, which was made by Nakamura Naondo (1905-1981), and which is the 2nd deity of the Musashino 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.  Naondo was born in Nagano Prefecture and studied woodcarving from Yoshida Hakurei (1871-1942) from 1920 to 1926.  Naondo moved to Paris in 1952 and learned painting.  In 1964, he returned to Japan.

     Dojo-ji Temple has the grave of Shibata Joe (1877-1954), who organized the Musashino 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

Address: 1 Chome-16-7 Shakujiidai, Nerima City, Tokyo 177-0045

Phone: 03-3996-0015

Site of Shakujii Castle

Address: 1 Chome−26−1 Shakujiidai, Nerima City, Tokyo 177-0045

Phone: 03-3996-3950

Trees In the Town

Virtual Musashino 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #1 Chomei-ji Temple

 

     The Masushima Family lived in Yawara Hamlet, Shakujii Village, Toshima County, Musashi Province.  People lived in the Shakujii area even in the Old Stone Age.  The area was occupied by the Toshima Family in 1349.  In 1477, Shakujii Village was ruled by the Ota Family under the Later Hojo Clan.  As Masushima literally means Added Plot, the Masushima Family might have developed a plot in the Shakujii area.  The Later Hojo Clan collapsed in 1590, and Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) moved into the Kanto Region.  Masushima Shigetasu (?-1682) became a vassal of the Tokugawa Shogunate and worked for the accountancy office.

     The Masushima Family felt like decorating their family tree.

     When the Later Hojo Clan was defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) in 1590, some of the Later Hojo Clan's members were sent to Mt. Koya to confine themselves there: Ujinao (1562-1591), Naosada, Ujinori (1545-1600), Ujitada (?1593), Ujitaka (?-1609), and Ujimitsu (?-1590).  Some of their vassals, including Shigetatsu’s granduncle, to support their confined life.  Some clan members died there and the others were released.  The granduncle returned to his homeland with a copy of the image of Kukai (774-835) in 1613.  He enshrined the image in his hermitage.  To follow the Tokugawa Shogunate's policy that every citizen should belong to an official Buddhist temple, the granduncle's nephew founded a temple with Keisan (?-1616) as its 1st priest and asked Priest Shusan of Hase-dera Temple in Yamato Province to name the temple.  The priest named it Chomei-mitsu-ji in 1640.  In 1648, the temple was authorized by the shogunate.  The nephew's son was Shigetatsu.  To decorate their family tree, Shigetasu first gave his granduncle a good-lineage-samurai-like name Shigeaki.  Shigeaki's nephew, who was Shigetasu's father, was named Shigetoshi.  Even Shigetoshi's father was named Shigekuni, and Shigekuni's father Shigetane.  Shigetasu even claimed Shigetane was the illegitimate child of Ise Shinkuro (1432-1519), the founder of the Later Hojo Clan, and that his granduncle practiced Shingon Buddhism in Mt. Koya.   To support the latter idea, he had the temple shaped like Mt. Koya: with the granduncle's hermitage as the Great Master's Hall in Mt. Koya, his father's temple as the Main Hall of Mt. Koya, and his family's graves as Okunoin Cemetery Path.

     Shigetasu's first idea didn't work.  Many samurai, no matter if they were high-ranking or low-ranking, decorated their family trees, and Shigetatsu's decoration of his family tree didn't enable the Masushima Family to achieve any significant success as a vassal of the Tokugawa Shogunate.  His second idea, however, worked!  As Edo flourished as a practical capital of Japan, its citizens enjoyed tourism, especially pilgrimage tourism.  Chomei-ji Temple became very popular, and they called the temple East-Koya or New-Koya.

     Chomei-ji Temple enshrines Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha.

Address: 3 Chome-10-3 Takanodai, Nerima City, Tokyo 177-0033

Phone: 03-3996-0056

Trees In the Town

Musashino 33 Kannon Pilgrimage

 

     Musashino 33 Kannon Pilgrimage was organized by Shibata Joe (1877-1954) along Musashino Railway in 1940.  The railway began operations in 1912.  It merged with Kawagoe Railway in 1945.  The merged railway became Seibu Railway in 1946.  Thus, the member temples of the Musashino 33 Kannon Pilgrimage are located along Seibu Railway.

     Joe was born in 1877 as the third son of the head priest of Zuinin-ji Temple in Ozone Village, Kasugai County, Aichi Prefecture.  He moved to Tokyo in 1897 and entered the Shinshu Tokyo High School, and then studied history at the Shigakukan of the Ikubunkan High School.  In those days, he heard a lecture by Tsuboi Shogoro (1863-1913), an anthropologist, and was interested in archeology.  In 1902, he was hired by the Tokyo Imperial University, and worked for the Department of Anthropology in the Faculty of Science.  In 1906, he became an assistant in the Faculty of Science.  He assisted Tsuboi in editing the Tokyo Anthropological Journal and engaged in researching ruins and artifacts in various locations.  Coming from a Buddhist temple, he was knowledgeable about Buddhist doctrine and scriptures.  Buddhist archeology became his specialty.

     In 1919, the Act on Historic Sites, Places of Scenic Beauty, and Natural Monuments was brought into effect, and the Ministry of the Interior came to have jurisdiction over historic sites, places of scenic beauty, and natural monuments.  Joe became a part-time employee of the ministry.  He lived in Saitama Prefecture and organized the Saitama Local History and Culture Association in 1927.  Afterwards, he became a lecturer at Keio University and was involved in the excavations of the Hiyoshi Yagami Tumulus in 1936 and the Kase Hakusan Tumulus in 1937.  In 1940, he organized the Musashino 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, when the Tripartite Pact was signed by Germany, Italy, and Japan in Berlin.  World War II was approaching.

     After the war, he served as a member of the Cultural Properties Specialist Council from 1950.  He died on December 1st, 1954.

     The Musashino 33 Kannon Pilgrimage was revived in 1993, 2 years after the economic bubble popped.  People might be interested in a 33 Kannon pilgrimage when they sense the approach of the dark ages.

Trees In the Town

Virtual Saitama City Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #34 Daien-ji Temple

 

     Daien-ji Temple was founded by Ota Suketaka (1498-1547), who was a grandson of Ota Sukenaga (1432-1486), who built Edo Castle, in Futtono Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province.  The temple was supported by Yokoin later.

     In the old Japanese language, a vulva was called hoto.  The village was between plateaus and looked like a vulva.

     The temple keeps Daienji Kotenmyo Arare-gama.

     Ota Sukenaga (1432-1486) regularly used an arare-gama, namely hail-patterned iron pot, which was made in Tenmyo, Aso County, Shimotsuke Province.  The moldings made in Tenmyo before the Edo Period were called Ko-Tenmyo, namely Old Tenmyo.

     Sukenaga passed his hail-patterned iron pot to his adopted son, Sukeie (?-1522);

Sukeie in turn to his son, Sukeyori (1484-1536); Sukeyori to his son, Sukemasa (1522-1591); and then Sukemasa to his son Ujisuke (1542-1567).  As Ujisuke didn't have a son, his daughter adopted Hojo Kokuzomaru (1564-1582) as her husband.  Kokuzomaru died young, and his wife adopted his brother, Ujifusa (1565-1592).

     After the collapse of the Later Hojo Clan in 1590 and Ujifusa's death in 1592, she became a nun with her Buddhist name Yokoin.  She presented the hail-patterned iron pot to Daien-ji Temple.  When she visited the temple, she made a cup of powdered green tea with the pot, and offered up the tea to the Buddhist memorial tablet of Sukenaga.    Marrying twice, she might have made her best to guard the family.

     What was Tenmyo Village like?

     Tawara Tota (891-958) was an official of the Shimotsuke Provincial Government.  He was from Tawara Village, Kawachi County, Shimotsuke Province.  When Taira Masakado (?-940) tried to be independent from Japan in the Kanto Region in 939, Tota suppressed Masakado’s revolt.  Tota invited 5 casters from Tannan County, Kawachi Province, to Teraoka Village in Shimotsuke Province to have them mold arms.  At the end of the ancient times, their offspring moved from Teraoka Village to Tenmyo Village.  Their rustic but rugged appearance was preferred by samurai in Muromachi Period (1336-1573).  Iron pots made in Tenmyo were ranked alongside those of Ashiya, Chikuzen Province.  Ashiya iron pots were casted from the middle of the 14th century to the beginning of the 16th century.  Their style was called Shinnari.  They looked handsome and their patterns were elegant and graceful.  They were appreciated by the nobles and the high-ranking samurai in Kyoto.

Address: 335 Futtono, Minuma Ward, Saitama, 337-0017

Phone: 048-683-5673

Trees In the Town

Virtual Saitama City Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #33 Yoko-den Hall

 

     It is unknown when and how the image of Cintamanicakra, who usually has 6 arms and holds chintamani (a wish-fulfilling jewel) in one of the six, was enshrined in Tenjin'yama, Owada Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province.  It is also unknown when and why the image was moved to Daien-ji Temple.  The image is enshrined in Yoko-den Hall.

     As Tenjin'yama is just along the Shiba River, its floods could have caused the image to be moved to its present place.

Daien-ji Temple

Address: 335 Futtono, Minuma Ward, Saitama, 337-0017

Phone: 048-683-5673

Tenjinyama Park 

Address: 2 Chome-327-24 Owadacho, Minuma Ward, Saitama, 337-0053

Trees In the Town

Virtual Saitama City Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #32 Niizutsumi-Kannon-do Hall

 

     It is unknown when a Kannon-do hall was built with its Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha image in Niizutsumi Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province.  Niizutsumi literally means New Levee.  The village was independent from Futtono Village in the first half of the 17th century.  Niizutsumi Village started with 8 households and had only 11 households even in 1828.  The village couldn't support an independent official Buddhist temple.  The hall, however, has its own small graveyard.

     The hall is called Niizutsumi-Kannon-do Hall for expediency, and is also used as a community center.

Address: 19-2 Niizutsumi, Minuma Ward, Saitama, 337-0013 

Trees In the Town

Virtual Saitama City Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #31 Miyagayato-Kannon-do Hall

 

     Shokoku-in Temple was founded by Priest Ryusei (?-1693) in Miyagayato Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province, sometime between 1655 and 1658.  Its main deity was Acalanatha.  The precincts had a Kannon-do hall with Horse-Headed Hayagriva enshrined.  It is unknown whether the hall had been built before the foundation of Shokoku-in Temple or vice versa.  The temple was abolished after the Meiji Restoration, with Acalanatha and Horse-Headed Hayagriva left behind.

     The village name Miyagayato literally means Shrine's Valley.  The locals believe Shrine refers to Hikawa Shrine in Omiya.  As the Ayase River runs through the valley, rice fields were developed quite early.  The valley and its rice fields could have been the shrine's manor.

     What is Hikawa Shrine?

     In Izumo Province, today's Shimane Peninsula used to be an island in the Jomon Period (BC 14000-BC 10th century).  The Hi River filled the shallows between the Old Shimane Island and Honshu, and the Izumo Plain was formed about 10,000 years ago.  Rice growing arrived, and people there accumulated experience to change marshes and swamps into rice fields.  With this experience, Etakehi arrived at Musashi Province.  There, he or his offspring founded Hikawa Shrine, namely Hi River Shrine, on the Omiya Plateau.  Presumably, he tried to control the floods of the Iruma River in the west, the Ayase River in the middle, and the Ara River in the east of the plateau.

Address: 3 Chome-178 Miyagayato, Minuma Ward, Saitama, 337-0011

Hikawa Shrine

Address: 1-407 Takahanacho, Omiya Ward, Saitama 330-0803

Phone: 048-641-0137

Trees In the Town

Virtual Saitama City Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #30 Jigan-in Temple

 

     It is unknown when Shinmei Shrine was founded in Nakashima Hamlet, Kofukakusa Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province.  Approximately there are about 18 thousand Shinmei Shrines in Japan and they enshrine Amaterasu, the Japanese solar deity, and their head shrine is Ise Grand Shrine.  Ise Grand Shrine published the Ise Calendar in 1632, which recorded dates for agricultural activities.  Accordingly, Amaterasu was also regarded as a guardian deity of agriculture, and Shinmei Shrines were invited to newly developed villages during the Edo Period (1603-1867).

     Kofukasaku Village adjoined the south of Fukakusa Village.  As Fuka meant deep and Saku meant a crack, the Omiya Plateau had a larger deep crack and smaller deep crack in the area.  As Nakashima means an isle in a river, Nakashima Hamlet might have been an islet in a smaller crack.

     Jigan-ji Temple was founded as the shrine temple of Shinmei Shrine, enshrining Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, and was abolished soon after the Meiji Restoration.  The Arya Avalokitesvara statue is enshrined in a hall in the precincts of Shinmei Shrine.  The hall is also used as a community center.

Shinmei Shrine

Address: 604 Kofukasaku, Minuma Ward, Saitama, 337-0005

Trees In the Town

Virtual Saitama City Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #29 Hoshaku-ji Temple

 

     Priest San (?-1629) founded Hoshaku-ji Temple in Fukasaku Village, Adachi County, Musashi province, supported by Toshishige, whose family is unknown.  Judging from his first name, he must have been a samurai.

     The precincts of Hoshaku-ji Temple have 8 itabi in total.  One is dated 1349, another is dated 1367, and the others's letters are illegible.  Judging from their appearances, the unreadable itabi could be older than the readable ones.  Does that inevitably mean the precincts were a holy place even before the middle of the 14th century?  Not necessarily.

     The precincts also have Yagihashi Daizen's grave, which was said to have been moved from somewhere else.  As the itabi are randomly gathered in a corner, they could have also been moved from somewhere else.  As Fukasaku Village was mainly developed after the collapse of the Later Hojo Clan in 1590, when Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) moved into the Kanto Region, some ex-samurai became farmers and moved into Fukasaku Village as developers with their ancestors' itabi with them.

     Hoshaku-ji Temple enshrines Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha.

     The temple also enshrines the 62.3-centimeters-tall 24.3-centimeters-wide image of  En Ozunu (634-706), which was carved by  Enku (1632-1695), a famous Buddhist monk who traveled across Japan and who carved pieces of wood into as many as 120 thousand Buddhism statues.  The image seems to have been presented to the temple after its foundation.

Address: 3 Chome-38-1 Fukasaku Minuma Ward, Saitama 337-0003

Phone: 048-683-0917

Trees In the Town

Virtual Saitama City Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #28 Kakuzo-in Temple

 

     Kakuzo-in Temple was founded by Priest Nichiga (?-1658) in Fukasaku Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province.

     There used to be Fukasaku Pond, which was 545 meters wide and 1745 meters long, at the foot of the Omiya Plateau.  The farmers of Horisaki Village, which was located on the plateau, and which had only 41 households even at the turn of the 19th century, tried to reclaim the pond at the beginning of the 17th century.  They used the dig-up construction method to develop rice fields.  In the method, they dug up mud in swamps and developed rice fields which looked like the teeth of a comb.  They used boats when they planted rice.  In 1612, about 1 hectare of rice field was newly registered.  More reclaiming was planned, but the pond was a natural habitat of numerous birds and was used for the shogun's falconry.  In 1658, further reclaiming was forbidden.

     Nichiga witnessed the development and the setback of Fukasaku Village.

     Nichiga practiced Buddhist training in Mt. Hiei.  He brought the female head of Lion Dance to Fukasaku Village.  The temple was revived by Priest Seihan, who brought male heads of Lion Dance and a Tengu mask.  Annually, either on the third or the fourth Saturday, villagers perform a stirring dance with a tengu dancing around the stage.  The dance is called Fukasaku Sasara Lion Dance.

Address: 2 Chome−４−2 Haruoka, Minuma Ward, Saitama 337-0008

Phone: 048-687-1530

Trees In the Town

Virtual Saitama City Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #27 Oshima-do Hall

 

     It is unknown when Oshima-do Hall was founded in Nakamaru Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province.  It is also unknown when the village, whose special products were Chinese yams and the extract liquid of astringent persimmons, was developed.  It had 47 households at the turn of the 19th century.  The village came to be called Minami-Nakamaru, namely South Nakamaru, because Saitama Prefecture had another Nakamaru Village in the north.  The 2 villages weren't next to each other.

     The Saitama City Museum keeps the documents of Oshima Family, the head of Nakamaru Village.  One of the documents dates back to 1591, a year after Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) moved to the Kanto Region.

     The hall enshrines Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses.

     Nakamura Village was developed by 8 families including the Oshima, Kabata, Kuranami, Mitomi, and Yabe Families.  The Oshima and Kabata Families were said to have been the samurai who had been subject to the Kasuga Family. 

     Kasuga Yukimoto was based in Sugaya Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province.  He was subject to the Ota Family in Iwatsuki Fortress.  When Ota Sukemasa (1522-1591) became subject to Hojo Ujiyasu (1515-1571) in January, 1548. In 1559, Yukimoto followed Sukemasa and fought for the Later Hojo Clan.  In 1560, when Nagao Terutora(1530-1578) invaded the Kanto Region to outsource his local starvation, Sukemasa changed his sides to Terutora, and Yukimoto followed Sukemasa.  In 1564, Sukemasa's eldest son, Ujisuke (1542-1567), rebelled against Sukemasa, Yukimoto followed Ujisuke.  Ujisuke became subject to Hojo Ujimasa (1538-1590).

     Presumably, the Oshima and Kabata Families became farmers after the collapse of the Later Hojo Clan in 1590.

Address: 289-3 Minaminakamaru, Minuma Ward, Saitama, 337-0041

Saitama City Museum

Address: 2 Chome-1-2 Takahanacho, Omiya Ward, Saitama, 330-0803

Phone: 048-644-2322

Trees In the Town

Virtual Saitama City Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #26 Shofuku-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when Shofuku-ji Temple was founded.  The temple enshrines the wooden statue of Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha, which is 63.8 centimeters tall and 20.5 meters wide, and which was carved by Enku (1632-1695).  Although the statue is categorized as Ekadasamukha, it has 12 small Avalokitesvara.  That means the statue has 13 faces in total.

     Enku was a famous Buddhist monk.  He traveled across Japan and carved pieces of wood into as many as 120 thousand Buddhist images. 

     At the turn of the 19th century, 59 households lived in Hasunuma (namely Lotus Bog) Village, where lotus roots were gathered.  The Buddhist tanka poem of Shofuku-ji Temple states:

Some Lotus Bogs are clear

And others are muddy.

They don't even separate and sort us.

Address: 770 Hasunuma, Minuma Ward, Saitama, 337-0015

Phone: 048-683-0864

Trees In the Town

Virtual Saitama City Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #25 Hosho-in Temple

 

     It is unknown when Hosho-in Temple was founded in Hiraoka Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province.  It is also unknown when Shiraoka Village was developed.  The village was merged into Mikura Village at the beginning of the 18th century.  The temple seems never to have been registered as an official Buddhist temple.  It was abolished with its Bhaisajyaguru hall and tiny graveyard left behind.  However, its precincts are used as the premises of Mikura Community Center.

Mikura Community Center

Address: 82 Mikura, Minuma Ward, Saitama, 337-0033

Trees In the Town

Virtual Saitama City Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #24 Hojo-in Temple

  

     It is unknown when Hojo-in Temple was founded in Nakagawa Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province.  It wasn't recorded when the temple was abolished with its graveyard left behind.  The temple is said to have been abolished after the fire in the Meiji Period (1868-1912).  Near the graveyard, you can still find Hojoin Shita Bus Stop, literally the bus stop at the foot of Hojoin.

     The temple used to enshrine Cintamanicakra, who usually has 6 arms and holds chintamani (a wish-fulfilling jewel) in one of the six.  The image is enshrined in the Saitama City Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #23 Enzo-in Temple.

     The Buddhist tanka poems of Enzo-in and Hojo-in Temples refer to Enzo-in Temple as a lower temple and Hojo-in Temple as an upper temple, as Hojo-in Temple was located about 5 kilometers upper along the Shiba River:

However clear the upper stream may be

The lower temple resides

Along the gracious depth of Naka River.

I have climbed up to the upper temple

Counting on its guidance

Fur up to heaven.

Enzo-in Temple

Address: 540-1 Nakagawa, Minuma Ward, Saitama, 337-0043

Phone: 048-683-3227

Trees In the Town

Virtual Saitama City Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #23Enzo-in Temple

 

     Enzo-in Temple was founded by Priest Ryukei (?-1405) in Nakagawa Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province.

     The village was located at the southern end of the Omiya Plateau, and didn't have many rice fields.  Its special products were Chinese yams and the extract liquid of astringent persimmons.  The liquid has insect repellent, antiseptic, and waterproof effects.  Due to its antiseptic properties, it has been used since ancient times to coat mummified bodies and to strengthen fishing nets and fishing lines used underwater.  It was also used as a base coat for painting woodwork and wooden buildings.  In addition, when it is applied to paper and dried, it becomes hard and sturdy and has waterproof properties.  It was used as a material for making fans, umbrellas, and paper clothes, and is still used today as a material for paper crafts such as dyeing patterns.

     A ginkgo tree was planted when the temple was founded.  The tree is still alive to be big and tall.  The temple enshrines Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha.

Address: 540-1 Nakagawa, Minuma Ward, Saitama, 337-0043

Phone: 048-683-3227

Trees In the Town

Virtual Saitama City Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #22 Amanuma-Kannon-do Hall

 

     An Avalokitesvara image was enshrined in Amanuma Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province.  It is unknown which type of Avalokitesvara the image was.  The villagers prayed for easy and safe deliveries to the image.  They also prayed to the image to save their babies and infants from their early death.  The image came to be known as Child-Raising Avalokitesvara.

     The hall has its graveyard.

Address: 2 Chome-908 Amanumacho, Omiya Ward, Saitama, 330-0834

Trees In the Town

Virtual Saitama City Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #21 Mannichi-do Hall

 

     It is unknown when Mannichi-do Hall was founded in front of Hikawa Shrine in Musashi Province.

     There are several Mannichi-do Halls in Japan.  Mannichi means ten thousand days.  Some Mannichi-do Halls were built when and where a certain person or a certain group did something for ten thousand days.  What she/he/they did differed from hall to hall.  It is unknown who did what for 10,000 days in front of the shrine.

     The average lifespan is supposed to have been 31.7 in the Edo Period as the death rate of babies and infants was high.  Anyway, 10,000 days almost meant a lifetime.  To what did she/he/they devote her/his/their life?

     First of all, what is Hikawa Shrine?

     When Wakatarashihiko was the Emperor in the 4th century, he appointed governors in remote provinces and put up warehouses of tax rice there.  Etakehi, who was from Izumo Province, was dispatched to Musashi Province.

     In Izumo Province, today's Shimane Peninsula used to be an island in the Jomon Period (BC 14000-BC 10th century).  The Hi River filled the shallows between the Old Shimane Island and Honshu, and the Izumo Plain was formed about 10,000 years ago.  Rice growing arrived, and people there accumulated experience to change marshes and swamps into rice fields.  With this experience, Etakehi arrived at Musashi Province.  There, he or his offspring founded Hikawa Shrine, namely Hi River Shrine.  Presumably, he tried to control the floods of the Iruma and Ara Rivers.

     In the Edo Period, the Nakasen-do Highway ran in the area.  As its traffic increased, the highway was expanded and Toko-ji Temple was moved to where Mannichi-do Hall was located.  The temple merged the hall and the hall's Horse-Headed Hayagriva statue came to belong to the temple.

Toko-ji Temple

Address: 3 Chome-6 Miyacho, Omiya Ward, Saitama, 330-0802

Phone: 048-641-0523