Virtual Mogami 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #5 Gokoku-ji Temple

 

     On the northern bank of Mamigasaki River, there was a cave.  Mamigasaki River forms an alluvial cone where it runs out of the hills.  At the top of the cone, there was Hirashimizu Village.  A Moriyama was killed in battle in 990.  His wife enshrined an Avalokitesvara image in the cave to pray for the comfort of her husband in the other world and lived in a hermitage on the river.  At the great cost of Mr. Moriyama and others, by the end of the 10th century, the Imperial Court's rule reached the northern end of Honshu.

     As time went on, it became the Edo Period (1603-1867).  Matsudaira Tadahiro (1631-1700) became the lord of the Himeji Domain in 1644 at the age of 12.  Himeji was the strategic point between Osaka and the western provinces, and he was moved to Yamagata Domain in 1648.  In March, 1661, Tadahiro ordered Ichikawa Shichiroemon, Hyuga Rokurobe, and Takeshita Saburodayu to build a Kannon-do hall in front of the cave to stabilize public sentiment.  Utilizing local religion or faith is always a trick of rulers for stabilizing locals.  They built a dazzling spectacular hall on a sheer cliff, which generated a legend:

     Sanjo Morizane was in Kyoto and had a daughter, Princess Toyomaru, who suffered smallpox and her face was covered with pockmarks.  She gave up marrying and visited Ideha Province, following the divine message of Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto, which is known for its high-rise structure.  The princess met a charcoal burner, Tota.  They married and lived happily till the princess died in 1113.  Tota enshrined the princess's personal guardian Buddhist image, a six-centimeters tall pure-gold image of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, in the cave.  He built a Buddhist hall in front of the cave.

     The legend was evidently imported from Mutsu Province.

     In spite of his religious efforts, Tadahiro was moved to Utsunomiya Domain in 1668, and then to Shirakawa Domain in 1681.  There, he caused a disturbance over the succession of the family headship.  In 1691, his grandson, Tadamasa (1683-1746), was moved back to Yamagata again, reducing their family income to 2 thirds.  On May 16th, 1700, Tadahiro died, with his grave in Mt. Koya.  Where is hometown, if any?

Address: 501-1 Kamikaramatsu, Shakado, Yamagata, 990-0012

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