Virtual Mogami 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #24 Yakushi-ji Temple

 

     Takahashi Shinano enshrined Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, on the mountainside at the back of where Ginzan Hot Springs Resort is located to pray for the safety of travelers who came and went between Ideha and Mutsu Provinces.  It is unknown when Shinano lived.

     In the middle of the 19th century, the hall burned down but the statue was rescued by Takahashi Zenzaemon, an offspring of Shinano.  It is enshrined in Yakushi-ji Temple, which was founded in 1130.

     The Later Three-Year War was fought in the northeastern part of Japan in the late 1080s.  It was a kind of internal strife within the Kiyohara Clan.  First, Kiyohara Iehira (?-1087) and Kiyohira (1056-1128) fought against Sanehira (?-1083).  After Sanehira’s death, Iehira clashed against Kiyohira.  From the central government, Minamoto Yoshiie (1039-1106) intervened in the conflict.  The intervention brought victory to Kiyohira, who then picked up his paternal family name, Fujiwara, and the Kiyohara Clan disappeared in 1087.

     After Kiyohira's death in 1128, his first son, Koretsune (1090-1130), and the second son, Motohira (1105-1157), fought over inheritance.  Koretsune and his family were beheaded by Motohira on June 8th, 1130.  Yokushi-ji Temple was founded in those days.

Address: 207 Kamiyanagiwatarido, Obanazawa, Yamagata 999-4332

Phone: 0237-28-2437

Ginzan Onsen Public Bath

433 Ginzanshinhata, Obanazawa, Yamagata 999-4333