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