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