Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #23 Shoden-ji Temple

 

     Shoden-ji Temple was founded by Priest Shosatsu in 1491 in Harima Village, Tagawa County, Dewa Province.

     Suwa Zusho was from Takasago Port, Kako County, Harima Province.  Being defeated in battle, he fled to Dewa Province, counting on Mount Haguro.  He developed the floodplain of the Aka River and named the land Harima after his homeland.

From Harima, he came to

The farthest land,

Counting on the teachings.

Address: Otsu 43−44 Harima, Tsuruoka, Yamagata 997-0002

Phone: 0235-29-2279

Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #22 Tosen-ji Temple

 

     According to tradition, a Kannon-do hall was founded in Inako Village, Tagawa County, Ideha Province, in 807.  The area was in the estuary of Aka River, or in the lagoon at the time, and it is just impossible.  Strangely many temples and shrines were founded in 807.

     In 806, inspectors were dispatched to Tokaido, Hokurikudo, San'indo, San'yodo, Nankaido, and Saikaido Regions, or to all the regions except Tosando Region.  In 807, Kiyomizu-dera, Hase-dera, and Zentsu-ji Temples were founded.  More than 10 percent of the 88 member temples of the Shikoku Pilgrimage are said to have been founded in the same year.  In 810, the Chamberlains' Office was put up.  All in all, the central government strengthened their control over local administration.  In the central government, for a while, the Fujiwara Clan gained hegemony.

     Tosen-ji Temple was founded by Priest Unsatsu in 1647 on the natural levee of Aka River.  By the time, under the Tokugawa Shogunate, the area could have been reclaimed and its population might have increased.  They needed an official Buddhist Temple under the religion policy of the shogunate.

Visitors of the temple have been replaced

Generation by generation.

Teachings of it have been immutable.

Address: 85 Inoko, Mikawa, Higashitagawa District, Yamagata 997-1316

Phone: 0235-66-2023

Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #21 Shoyo-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when and where Omonoimi Shrine's shrine temple was founded.  In 1338, an Amitabha sitting statue was carved by Ryogaku and was enshrined in the temple.  In 1506, a Bhaisajyaguru statue was enshrined in the temple.  Since the 2 Buddhist images are kept in Shoyo-ji Temple, it claims that it used to be the shrine temple.  Abe Sadato (1019-1062) built a gorinto or five-ringed tower, which is a Japanese type of Buddhist pagoda, in its precincts.  Fukura was the northern limit of Sadato's influence.  To put it in another way, it was the northern limit of the Imperial Court's cognition although Sadato rebelled against the court.

Mt. Chokai looks down at

The mountains, rivers, and the sea.

Mega's waves look up to the mountain.

Address: Maruoka-148 Fukura, Yuza, Akumi District, Yamagata 999-8521

Phone: 0234-94-2361

Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #20 Kokoku-ji Temple

 

     The Shonai Coastal Sand Dunes are 35 kilometers long and 1.6-3.2 kilometers wide.  They shut the estuaries of Gakko, Nikko, Mogami, and Aka Rivers.  Accordingly, the estuaries used to form a large lagoon with marshes and swamps, and were often struck by floods.  Their orifices and openings were sometimes changed by floods.

     After the collapse of the Kamachi Family in 1445, people in Kominato, namely Old Port, moved to the south bank of the Mogami River little by little.  Tozen-ji Fortress was built in 1478 by the Daihoji Family on the north bank of the river to resist the Sagoshi Family's expansion southward.  In 1492, the Sakata Port's relocation from the south bank of the Mogami River to its north bank started. Priest Chigyo founded a Kannon-do hall in the west of Tozen-ji Fortress sometime between 1504 and 1521, enshrining an image of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses.  Finally in 1521, the 36 powerful merchant families moved to the north bank.

     According to Abe Chikato, who worked for the Shonai Domain in the latter half of the Edo Period (1603-1867), the Mogami River used to flow into the Sea of Japan at Kominato.  Then, it meandered southward and changed its mouth to its present place.  Floods and piling-up earth along the south bank unabled the bank to function as a port.  Those natural shifts occurred simultaneously, but their correlative timings are unknown.

     Tozenji Fortress utilized Niida River as its north defence moat.  As Sakata Port thrived, the opposite bank of the Niida River was developed.  The area newly developed from 1657 to 1682 was named Imamachi, namely Now Town, which eventually became an entertainment district.  As its population increased, townspeople needed a Buddhism Temple since every family was supposed to belong to an official Buddhist temple under the religion policy of the Tokugawa Shogunate.  Kokoku-ji Temple was founded to meet the needs.

Looking back on

the rise and fall of the fortress,

It's miraculous to see this prosperity.

Address: 1 Chome-3-8 Hiyoshicho, Sakata, Yamagata 998-0037

Phone: 0234-22-1653

Kamegasaki Fortress Ruins

Address: 1 Chome-3 Kamegasaki, Sakata, Yamagata 998-0842

Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #19 Ryuto-ji Temple

 

     Omonoimi Shrine is a Shinto shrine on Mount Chokai, an active volcano, in Yamagata Prefecture.  The shrine has three parts on different places of the mountain: Fukura-Kuchinomiya and Warabioka-Kuchinomiya at the foot of the mountain, and Sancho-Gohonsha, the main shrine on the mountain's summit.  Warabioka is located where the Nikko River runs out of mountains.

     According to tradition, Ryuto-ji Temple was founded sometime between 897 and 930 by Shingi Naokimi as a shrine temple of Warabioka-Kuchinomiya Shrine.

     Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku, literally the True Record of Three Reigns of Japan, is a history text officially mandated by Emperor Uda (867-931) to compile. It was compiled by Fujiwara Tokihira (871-909), Sugawara Michizane (845-903), Okura Yoshiyuki (832-921), and Mimune Masahira (853-926), and covers the years from August 27th, 858, to August 26th, 887, corresponding to three imperial reigns: Seiwa (850-881), Yozei (869-949), and Koko (830-887). The compilation was completed in 901.

     According to the Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku's article dated May 16th, 871, the Governor of Ideha Province reported that there was an Omonoimi Shrine on the top of a mountain in Akuumi County.  In the mountain, rocks soar, people rarely tread, snow covers its peak even in summer, and no trees or weeds grow.  On April 8th, it erupted.  Regarding the eruption of Mt. Chokai, he said, "We prayed to the god of Ideha, but we neglected to make an annual prayer afterwards.  Skeletons polluted the mountains and waters.  That caused the god's anger and caused the mountain to erupt, resulting in this disaster."  He stated that the eruption of Mt. Chokai was the result of military actions.

     The Imperial Court, however, gradually came to believe, for their convenience, that the mountain explosions were caused by the mountain god who abhorred the barbarians' military actions and gave notices beforehand.

     The eruption of Mt. Chokai was considered to be a manifestation of the divine power of God Omonoimi, and each time the eruption occurred, the Imperial Court promoted its divine rank.  In the article of May 11th, 838, in Shoku Nihon Koki, one of the 6 National Histories in ancient Japan, Omonoimi, which had been awarded an aristocratic rank of Upper Junior Fifth Rank, was promoted to Lower Senior Fifth Rank, being promoted by one grade.  There is no written record of when the first title was conferred.

     In Ancient Japan, 6 National Histories were compiled: Nihon Shoki, which covered the mythological period through 697, and whose compilation was completed in 720; Shoku Nihongi, which covered the years 697-791, and whose compilation was completed in 797; Nihon Koki, which covered the years 792-833, and whose compilation was completed in 840; Shoku Nihon Koki, whose compilation was finished in 869, and which covered the years 833–850; Nihon Montoku Tenno Jitsuroku, which covered the years 850-858, and whose compilation was completed in 879; and Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku, which covered the years 858-887, and whose compilation was completed in 901.

     Omonoimi's divine rank was promoted as follows:

     Shoku Nihon Koki's article dated May 11th, 838: Omonoimi was promoted from Upper Junior Fifth Rank to Lower Senior Fifth Rank.

     Shoku Nihon Koki's Article dated July 26th, 840: Omonoimi was promoted from Lower Senior Fifth Rank to Lower Junior Fourth Rank, a double promotion.  When the shipwrecked envoy to Tang China was attacked by pirates the previous year, the pirates were repelled by a small number of soldiers, but this was attributed to the divine protection of Omonoimi, which erupted around the same time and expressed its divine power.  2 families were donated to the god.  The letter of appreciation of Emperor Ninmyo (810-850) was attached.  Donation of 2 families actually meant that 2 families who served Omonoimi were exempted from paying taxes.

     Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku's article dated November 1st, 862: Omonoimi was promoted to Lower Senior Fourth Rank.  Its shrine was also designated as a government-owned shrine.

     Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku's article dated February 5th, 864: Omonoimi was promoted from Lower Senior Fourth Rank to Upper Senior Fourth Rank.

     Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku's article dated November 5th, 864: Omonoimi was promoted from Upper Senior Fourth Rank to Junior Third Rank.

     Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku's article dated April 5th, 873: Omonoimi was promoted from Junior Third Rank to Senior Third Rank, celebrating rebuilding of the shrine at the top of the mountain and performing a memorial service after the great eruption in 871 subsided.

     Nihon Sandai Jirroku's article dated July 10th, 878, 2 more families were donated to Omonoimi, making the total number four.

     Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku's article dated August 4th, 878:  Omonoimi was given the Third Class within the same grade.

     Due to the years of harsh administration by Yoshimine Chikashi, the officer of the Akita Castle, the dissatisfaction of subordinate foreigners reached its peak.  In March, 878, they rose up and raided Akita Fortress, and Chikashi was unable to defend the fortress and fled.  The subordinate foreigners set fire to the surrounding area, and the Governor of Ideha Province, Fujiwara Okiyo (817-891) also fled.

     In April, the Imperial Court received a courier from Chikashi and ordered Kozuke and Shimotsuke Provinces to conscript 1,000 soldiers each.  On the 19th, Tomo Sadamichi, the officer of Mogami County, was killed in battle.

     In May, the Imperial Court appointed Fujiwara Kajinaga as commandant and dispatched 1,000 cavalry and 2,000 infantry from Mutsu Province to suppress the rebel forces.  Fujiwara Noritsuna, Fun'ya Arifusa, and Ono Haruizumi also led 2,000 Ideha soldiers to join Kajinaga.  In June, the rebel forces attacked Akita Fortress again in large numbers, and the central army suffered a crushing defeat.  Kajinaga fled back to Mutsu Province.  The fortress was robbed of 300 pieces of armor, 700 koku of rice, 100 bedding, and 1,500 horses.  The rebellion expanded and 12 villages around Akita Fortress,Kamitsuno, Hinai, Sugibuchi, Noshiro, Kahoku, Wakimoto, Hoguchi, Okawa, Tsutsumi, Aneto, Katagami, and Yakioka, came under the rebell's control.  In the northern part of Ideha Province, only the foreigners of 3 villages, Soekawa, Habetsu, and Sukegawa, belonged to the province.  Furthermore, the northern foreigners of Tsugaru and Toshima supported the uprising.

     The Imperial Court had fortune-tellers judge the military situation.  "Since ancient times, God Omonoimi has shown its divine power in our conquering wars.  However, its divine power now belongs to northern foreigners.  If we promote the god, it may answer to the promotion."

     Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku's article on February 27th, 880: Omonoimi was promoted to Junior Second Rank from Senior Third Rank.  After the Akita Rebellion was quelled, it returned to peacetime.

     These promotions were given to God Omonoimi through the Imperial messengers or the Governors of Ideha Province.  They couldn't have visited Mount Chokai without presents.  How and to whom were those presents and the exemptions of taxes distributed?  There was no records on the distribution.  Anyway, they might have brought about local conflicts.  The conflicts between Fukura and Warabioka locals were serious.  They even claimed their "guchinomiya" shrines to be a main shrine and what at the top of the mountain to be just an inner shrine.  Under Pax Tokugawana, their conflicts continued or even grew.  In peacetime, the number of Mount Chokai pilgrims increased.  It mattered which shrine was the originator.  That directly linked with the number of pilgrims they could mobilize.  Finally, after the Meiji Restoration, which pursued the centralized government, Prince Arisugawa Taruhito (1835-1895), designated Gongen-do on the mountaintop as the main shrine of Omonoimi Shrine, and designated Omonoimi Shrines in Fukura and Warabioka as Satomiya Shrines (later Kuchinomiya Shrines) on August 7th, 1880.

     In 1974, there were a steam explosion and 6 small mud flows.  Its Volcanic Explosion Index was VEI 1.

How far can we see

From the top of Mt. Chokai,

Whose god's vision far exceeds ours?

Address: Matsugaoka-45 Kamiwarabioka, Yuza, Akumi District, Yamagata 999-8314

Phone: 0234-72-2553

Chokaisan-Omonoimi Shrine Warabioka-guchinomiya Shrine

Address: Matsugaoka−51, Kamiwarabioka, Akumi District, Yamagata 999-8314

Phone: 0234-72-2552

Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #18 Enmei-ji Temple

 

     In Mt. Omori, there is a huge stone which has been worshiped as a god or a holy place on which a god descends.  When the Dewa Provincial Government office was moved from Akita to Kinowa Fortress in the 780's, building stone was cut off from the mountain.  The Imperial Army might have brought stone artisans from Oushiko Shrine in Harima Province, the artisans brought their god from the shrine and founded Oishi Shrine in the mountain supposedly to calm down the god of the mountain.  Enmei-ji Temple was founded as its shrine temple not long after the foundation of the shrine.  In the 1150's, Minamoto Yoriyoshi (988-1075) ordered the temple to make a prayer for victory in the Former Nine Years' War or the Early Nine Years' War, in which he fought against the Abe Clan in Mutsu Province from 1051 to 1063.

     Enmei-ji Temple seems to have been preferred by the samurai from the Kanto Region.  Its precincts have 23 itabi, which were the Kanto style gravestones preferred by the samurai there.

As Buddhism has come,

Even the huge harm of the huge stone

Has gone without a trace.

Address: Omoriyama-164 Oishi, Sakata, Yamagata 998-0802

Phone: 0234-94-2361

Oishi Shrine

Address: Omoriyama-160-1 Oishi, Sakata, Yamagata 998-0802

Oushiko Shrine

Address: Ooshiko-171 Amidacho, Takasago, Hyogo 676-0823

Phone: 079-447-1006

Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #17 Toko-ji Temple

 

     Toko-ji Temple was founded in Asuka Village, Akumi County, Dewa Province, in 1279, by Priest Tokuho. 

     Asuka Shrine was founded in 807, inviting the god of Asuka Niimasu Shrine.  Presumably, people in Asuka, Yamato Province, immigrated as farmer-soldiers with their original god.

     In 712, Ideha Province was separated from Koshi Province.  In 780, however, the Ideha Provincial Government Office retreated from today's Akita to today's Sakata.  The Imperial Court sent farmer-soldiers to the surrounding area around the provincial government office to support the frontline.  There also used to be Miwa Village (today's Miwa, Tsuruoka, Yamagata 999-7634), where farmer-soldiers from Miwa, Yamato Province, could have settled.

     For about half a millennium, their offspring didn't have a Buddhist temple, probably influenced by surrounding northern foreigners who regarded their own local gods more important.  Presumably, samurai from the Kanto Region brought Buddhism to Asuka Village after the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate in 1180 and its triumph over ancien regime in Mutsu Province, the Fujiwara Clan, in 1189.

     The Kanto samurai brought a stndardized religion to Dewa Province.  They were, on the other hand, localized.

     Jibukyonotsubone (1152-1231) was the wife of Taira Tomomori (1152-1185).  Her brother, Muto Yorihira, worked for the Imperial Guards, and then was dispatched to Musashi Province by Tomomori.  Yorihira's children continued to live in the province.  Yorihira's second son, Ujihira, fought for Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199).  After Yoritomo destroyed the Fujiwara Clan in Mutsu Province, he appointed Ujihira as the samurai steward of Oizumi Manor, which came to be owned by the Hojo Clan, in the estuary of Akagawa River in Dewa Province.  The Muto Family practically managed and practically ruled the manor for generations.  Even after 1333, when the Hojo Clan was destroyed, the ownership of the manor was transferred to the Uesugi Clan, who provided the Regents of the Kanto Deputy Shogunate, in 1361, the Muto Family's position didn't change.

     The Muto Family, later as the Daihoji Family, ruled not only the Oizumi Manor but the Shonai Plain at large  from 1192 to 1587 for 395 years.  Their family headships were handed down as follows: Muto Ujihira  - Moriuji - Ujikage - Daihoji Akiuji - Nagamori - Morouji - Chikajui - Mochiuji - Noriuji - Kiyouji - Takeuji - Masauji - Sumiuji - Ujitoki - Harutoki (1512-1541) - Yoshimasu (1522-1581) - Yoshiuji (1551-1583) - Yoshioki (1554-1587).  Yoshioki was completely defeated by Mogami Yoshimitsu, and killed himself on November 24th, 1587.

     The 12th head, Masauji, inherited the headship in 1472.  That means it took 11 generations to get over 220 years, 20 years a generation on average.  Then, by the time Toko-ji Temple was founded in 1279, the Muto Family had already changed their family name Daihoji after the place name they were based in.

     Then, who brought a standardized religion precisely to Asuka?  It must have been the Sagoshi Family, who built Sagoshi Fortress about 1 kilometer west-northwest from Toko-ji Temple.  An unknown samurai was appointed as an official of Akumi County when the Muto Family moved to Oizumi Manor.  He could have been a relative or a servant of the Muto Family.  The samurai first administered government business at the county government office in Ichijo (IchijoSakata, Yamagata 999-8232).  Later, he moved to Sagoshi Mansion, which had been built in 1154.  Then, his family settled down there.  It is unknown whether his family was called Sagoshi after the place name or the place was called Sagoshi after the family name.

     However unknown the founder of the family might have been, the Sagoshi Family came to defy their boss, the Daihoji Family.  The presence of the Ando Pirates slipped in and out of the background of their defiance.  Finally, when the allied forces of the Uesugi Clan and the Daihoji Family attacked the Mogami Clan in August , 1588, the Sagoshi Family fought for the Mogami Clan, and lost.  The family fled north, counting on Ando Chikasue (1539-1587), whose wife was a daughter of Sagoshi Sojun.

Just rely on the high vow

Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha had made

As high as birds flying over roofs.

Address: 104 Asuka, Sakata, Yamagata 999-6711

Phone: 0234-52-3366

Asuka Shrine

Address: Donogo-92 Asuka, Sakata, Yamagata 999-6711

Phone: 0234-52-2486

Asuka Niimasu Shrine

Address: 708 Asuka, Takaichi District, Nara 634-0103

Phone: 0744-54-2071

Omiwa Shrine

Address: 1422 Miwa, Sakurai, Nara 633-0001

Phone: 0744-42-6633

Sagoshijoatohonmaru Park (Sagoshi Fortress Ruins)

Address: Tatenouchi-232-1 Sagoshi, Sakata, Yamagata 999-6701

Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #16 Kaizen-ji Temple

 

     Omonoimi Shrine is a Shinto shrine on Mount Chokai, an active volcano, in Yamagata Prefecture.  The shrine has three parts on different places of the mountain: Fukura-Kuchinomiya and Warabioka-Kuchinomiya at the foot of the mountain, and Sancho-Gohonsha, the main shrine on the mountain's summit.  The plateau which is made from hardened lava of Mt. Chokai meets the Shonai Coastal Dunes at Fukura.  The sand dunes stretch south for about 35 kilometers from Fukura,

     When the Imperial Army reached the area at the beginning of the 8th century, a god was already there.  The god didn't appear either in the Kojiki, Records of Ancient Matters, which is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, and semi-historical accounts down to 641; or in the Nihon Shoki, the Chronicles of Japan, which is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history, and which was finished in 720.  That means God Omonoimi was the god of the northern foreigners.  The Imperial Army built Kinowa Fortress, where the provincial government office was placed, about 30 kilometers south of Fukura.  The fortress was substantially at the forefront for the Imperial Army.  As the matter of course, the Fukura locals regarded Omonoimi more important than Buddhism.

     In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) established the Tokugawa Shogunate, which lasted till 1867, in Edo, Musashi Province.  Under the shogunate's religion policy, every family was supposed to belong to an official Buddhist temple.  In 1612, Priest Kaian, the 17th head priest of Yosen-ji Temple, founded Kaisen-ji Temple in Fukura to meet the needs of the locals.

     The 21st priest of Kaisen-ji Temple, Kankai (1801-1871), was very earnest and active.  He was worried about drowned bodies washed ashore nearby cape.  He made up his mind to carve Buddhist images out of the rocks at the tip of the cape.  He asked for money not only in Fukura but also in Sakata.  When he gathered up the money equivalent to 2 gold coins, he had a stone artisan carve a Buddhist image.  In 1864, the first image was completed.  By 1868, he had had 22 Buddhist images including 16 Arhuts carved.  The rock was called 16 Arhuts Rock.

     Times, however, changed.  In the same year, the Gods and Buddhas Separation Order was issued by the Meiji Restoration Government.  In 1867, all the Fukura locals became Shintoists.  Omonoimi Shrine had several shrine temples, but their Buddhist priests all became Shinto priests.  In 1871, Omonoimi Shrine in Fukura became a state-supported shrine.  On a snowy night in the year, Kankai remained silent, went out of Kaisen-ji Temple, and drowned himself in the sea, only with his footprints left on the snow.

Listening to the waves in Fukura,

I listen to the waves

Washing on the foot of Mt. Potalaka

What sounds did Kankai hear in his last moment?

Address: Yokomachi−54 Fukura, Yuza, Akumi District, Yamagata 999-8521

Phone: 0234-77-2101

Chokaisan-Omonoimi Shrine Fukuraguchi-no-miya Shrine

Address: Nunokura-1 Fukura, Yuza, Akumi District, Yamagata 999-8521

Phone: 0234-77-2301

Omonoimi Shrine

Address: Fukura, Yuza, Akumi District, Yamagata 999-8521

Phone: 0234-77-2301

Chokaisan-Omonoimi Shrine Warabioka-guchinomiya Shrine

Address: Matsugaoka−51, Kamiwarabioka, Akumi District, Yamagata 999-8314

Phone: 0234-72-2552

Yosen-ji Temple

Address: Nakamichi-4 Suguse, Yuza, Akumi District, Yamagata 999-8525

Phone: 0234-77-2122

Juroku Rakan Iwa

Address: Nishidate Fukura, Yuza, Akumi District, Yamagata 999-8521

Phone: 0234-77-3330

Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #15 Ryutaku-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when Uchigo Village was developed between Mogami and Aizawa Rivers in Akumi County, Dewa Province.  In the Village, there runs a mountain stream named Myoga-sawa Stream.  Along the stream, there is a deep pool named Daiko-buchi Pool.  The locals used to gathered around the pool to hold a ritual of praying for rain.  Priest Shunsai (?-1466) built a retirement along the river and enshrined a 60.6-centimeter-tall image of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, near the pool.  Priest Zenban, the 7th head priest of Soko-ji Temple, founded Ryutaku-ji Temple in 1466 to take care of the pool and the image in 1708.  Ryutaku namely means Dragon Stream.

     The Amarume and its surrounding areas were located above the water level of the Mogami River and could not draw water from the river.  They were vast wilds.

     In 1612, Kitatate Toshinaga (1548-1625), the lord of Karikawa Fortress, constructed an irrigation canal to supply water to those areas.

     Approximately 10 kilometers of irrigation canal was completed in just four months by mobilizing 7,400 workers.  Afterwards, extension work was carried out, and its total length became 32 kilometers.  As a result, approximately 5,000 hectares of new rice fields and 88 villages were developed.

     Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604-1651), the third shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, dissolved many clans to strengthen the power of the shogunate.  This increased the number of masterless and jobless samurai and destabilized society.  To restabilize society, he strengthened the danka system.  Every family was supposed to belong to an official Buddhist temple.

     All in all, Myogasawa Village needed a new temple and Zenban met the needs of the villagers.

Just as Myoga Stream shows up on praying,

So the next world flies to greet me,

As soon as I wish.

     Judging from the year of Shunsatsu's death, he didn't live in Myogasawa for a year.  Time and tide wait for no man.

Address: Sawajiri-140 Myogasawa, Sakata, Yamagata 999-6841

Phone: 0234-62-3629

Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #12 Soko-ji Temple

Address: 8 Sokojisawa, Sakata, Yamagata 999-6831

Phone: 0234-62-2170

Karikawa Fortress Ruins

Address: Karikawa, Shonai, Higashitagawa District, Yamagata 999-6601

Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #14 Jokei-ji Temple

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #14 Jokei-ji Temple

     Jokei-ji Temple was founded in Amarume Manor in 1416 by Anpo Taro.

     Who were the Ampo Family first of all?

     Anpo Tadazane is said to have started the Anpo Family, based in the Amarume area, which was located between Sakata Port and  Oizumi Manor, and most of which used to be the wild before the Tokugawa Period (1603-1867).  He was a vassal of Ko Moronao (?-1351), a butler of Ashikaga Takauji (1305-1358), the first Shogun of the Ashikaga Shogunate.  The Anpo Family was a member of the Tan Corps, one of the seven Musashi Corps.  For generations, they served for the Minamoto Clan, Hojo Clan, and Ashikaga Clan, achieving military success, and their fiefs were scattered throughout Japan.  Tadazane was the second son of Mitsuyasu, who was the 15th head of the family and who was based in Moto-Abo, Kami County, Musashi Province (present-day Kamikawa-cho, Kodama District, Saitama Prefecture), and who was subject to Moronao.  After the Battle of Shijo Kawara in 1335, Tadazane was given a letter of citation and a sword by Moronao.

     In 1340, Tadazane inherited the Amarume area from Mitsuyasu, but he lived near Shijo- Higashitoin in Kyoto.  Perhaps under the influence of Moronao, he became "basara."  He was even featured in the Basara-e Picture.

     According to the will left by Mitsuyasu, which is dated January 24th, 1340, he distributed his territories to his three sons.  The Amarube territory was also divided into three parts: Amarube Village and Sawada Village were given to the oldest son, Yasunori; Asamaru, Ato, and Fukuro Villages were allocated to his second son, Naozane; and Funakoshi and Sasazaki Villages were allocated to the third son, Mitsutsune.  Due to the death of Mitsutsune in battle, the allocation was revised on August 22nd in the same year.  Naozane Abo was given Asamaru and Bukuro Villages and the third son, Hikogoro, was given Funakoshi and Sasazaki Villages.  All of these names are place names within present-day Amarume Town, and the Anpo Family's territory was the area to the west of Amabe Manor.

     The Anpo Family always stood on the side of the Northern Court, and, in 1350, fought against Kitabatake Akinobu at Tachiyizawa (Shonai, Higashitagawa District, Yamagata 999-6609).  The armies of the Anpo and Yuki Families surrounded Tachiyazawa Fortress, where Akinobu was based in Dewa Province, and defeated those of Akinobu and Prince Morinaga, who were forced to move to Fujishima Fortress.

     The family's consistent political position suggests that not only Oizumi Manor but Amabe Manor was owned by the Jimyoin bloodline and that the family was the local steward of the manor for generations.

     Who were the Jimyoin bloodline?

      Fujiwara Motoyori (1040-1122) established a Buddhist temple in his mansion and named it Jimyoin.  The mansion came to be called Jimyoin mansion, and Motoyori's descendants came to be called the Jimyoin Family.  The mansion was inherited by Emperor Fushimi (1265-1317) through Emperor Go-Horikawa (1212-1234), whose maternal relatives were the members of the Jimyoin Family.  Fushimi's descendants lived in the Jimyoin mansion.  This is the origin of the name the Jimyoin bloodline.

     Before his death, Emperor Go-Shirakawa (1127-1192) handed over his manors to his sixth princess, Princess Kinshi (1181-1252).  In 1251, the princess made Emperor Go-Saga (1220-1272) promise to take over Go-Shirakawa's memorial service in return for transferring the manors to Emperor Go-Fukakusa (1243-1304), Go-Saga's son.  Go-Fukakusa transferred the manors to his son, Emperor Fushimi (1265-1317), who transferred them to Emperor Go-Fushimi (1288-1336).  Then, there came the Southern and Northern Courts Period (1336-1392).  The Jimyo blood line provided the emperors of the Northern Courts.

     In 1398, the Anpo Family founded Amarume-Hachiman Shrine as the guardian shrine in their residence.

     The family tried to invite Priest Monpon (?-1417) from Soji-ji Temple in Noto Province, but he declined for his old age.  Instead, Monpon sent Priest Keigaku (1345-1413) with the calligraphy written by Monpon and dated 1416, which is still kept in the temple as a treasure.

     As there is a letter written by Asakura Yoshikage (1533-1573), the 11th and last head of the Asakura Clan, who ruled Echizen Province, requesting the Irobe Family in Echigo Province, who was in the middle of the trading route, to facilitate the purchase of horses from the Daihoji Family, it is clear Oizumi Manor provided horses or, at least, collected horses.  Judging from its vegetation, the Amarume area also provided horses.

There, but for the salvation of Buddha,

Go we, and we wish

The blessings on the ages to come.

     The Anpo Family survived in the Amarume area for 16 generations till they were destroyed by Daihoji Yoshiuji (1551-1583), who was based in Oizumi Manor, in 1571 at the end of the Warring States Period.

Address: Tate-27 Amarume, Shonai, Higashitagawa District, Yamagata 999-7781

Phone: 0234-42-3410

Fujishima Fortress Ruins

Address: Furutateato, Fujishima, Tsuruoka, Yamagata 999-7601

Phone: 0235-57-4868

Trees In the Town

Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #13 Hozo-ji Temple

 

     In the 15th century, an image of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, was found in a pond along Misome-zawa Stream in Yamadera Village, Akumi County, Dewa Province.

     Priest Jion, the 2nd priest of Soko-ji Temple, founded Hozo-ji Temple for the image in 1431.

     From the Jomon Period, people lived in the Yamadera area, which belonged to Oizumi Manor.  It is unknown why and when the area came to be regarded as a holy place, but the area had sutra mounds since Nara Period (710-794).  Emperor Go-Shirakawa (1127-1192) had 89 manors in 42 provinces in 1191.  Oizumi Manor was one of them.  As the emperor robbed most of his manor of Fujiwara Yorinaga (1120-1156) and others, the manor could have belonged to Yorinaga, or the Fujiwara Clan, which started in 669, at large.  After Go-Shirakawa, the manor was inherited by the Jimyoin bloodline.

     It is unknown when the Arya Avalokitesvara image was thrown or hidden in the pond.

     Many immigrants continued to come to ancient Japan, and many of them were from the Korean Peninsula.  When they settled in Japan, they grouped themselves into clans.  Some clans brought Buddhism with them as a private religion within the clan.  It seems that Buddhist statues and Buddhist scriptures had already been brought to Japan even before their official introduction in the middle of the 6th century.  An example of this is Sima Daetdeung, who came to Japan in 522.  According to the Fuso Ryakuki, a Japanese historical text compiled at the end of the 12th century by Priest Koen (1074-1169), Daetdeung and his clan enshrined a Buddhist image in Takaichi County, Yamato Province.

Since then, currents of thought which advocated the expulsion of Buddhism from Japan appeared in Japan's history intermittently.

     The Domon, Kumano, Ampo, and Yakuwa Families ruled Yamadera Village in 1506 with 18 monks.  The village was a holy manor.

In a mountain temple,

As a treasurable image revealed itself,

So Buddhism teachings should build up.

Address: Misomezawa-154 Yamadera, Sakata, Yamagata 999-6821

Phone: 0234-62-2169