Virtual Shonai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #12 Soko-ji Temple

 

     Priest Doai was from Dewa Province and founded Eitoku-ji Temple in Isawa County, Mutsu Province.  His first son, Ryoen (?-1425), visited Mount Haguro.

     Ryoen founded Soko-ji Temple, supported by Sato Masanobu (?-1397).

     Who was the Sato Family?

     Fujiwara Kinmitsu (?-1057) was killed in the Former Nine-Year War (1051-1062).  His great grandson, Kiyosato, fought in the Later Three-Year War (1083-1087), and was given Shinobu County in Mutsu Province.  Like other military service members of the Fujiwara Clan did, Kiyosato changed his surname to Sato.

     A couple of generations later, Sato Motoharu (1113-1189) was based in Shinobu County, building Otori Fortress.  His sons, Tsugunobu (1150-1185) and Tadanobu (1153-1186), followed Minamoto Yoshitsune (1159-1189) when Yoshitsune joined in the army of Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199).  On February 19th, 1185, when Tsugunobu was fighting as a shield of Yoshitsune, he was shot to death.

     One of Tsugunobu's offspring moved to Wakuya Village, Onda County, Mutsu Province, in the Kamakura Period (1185-1333), and built Wakuya Fortress. 

     After the collapse of the Kamakura Shogunate, in the Northern and Southern Courts period (1336-1392), in 1356 precisely, Sato Masanobu moved from Wakuya Rortress to Kashiyama Fortress in Tamatsukuri County in the same province.  Kashiyama Fortress, however, fell in 1379, and Masanobu and his family moved to Inarisawa Village, Akumi County, Dewa Province.  Supposedly, they belonged to the Southern Court.

     In 1338, Kitabatake Akinobu (1320-1380) was appointed the Commander in Chief of Mutsu Province by the Southern Court.  The following year, he headed to Mutsu Province and based himself at Ryozen Fortress, where he rallied surrounding powerful samurai to carry out his military activities.

     In 1347, Ryozan Fortress fell.  Akinobu retreated to Shizukuishi Fortress and then to Dewa Province.  In 1351, Akinobu defeated the Northern Court armies one after another in battles such as Dewa Kokubun-ji Temple and Akoya, where Kitabatake Shrine is located. In November, the Northern Court's army was completely defeated at the Battle of Hirose River.  As a result, Akinobu succeeded in recapturing Taga Castle, or the Mutsu Provincial Government Office.  In the following year, he was chased out of the castle by Kira Sadaie, who was appointed as the Regent of Mutsu Province by the Northern Court.  Akinobu moved to Uzumine Fortress, which, however, also fell in May, 1353, due to an attack by Sadaie.  Akinobu fled to Dewa Province again.

     Masanobu's movements were basically consistent with those of Akinobu.

     Why did Masanobu move so often when samurai are believed to be "isshokenmei", which literally means to protect and maintain one's land at the risk of one's life?

     In the ancient manor system, those who held the position of manor stewards were subcontracted with local management by the lord of the manors.  They later became samurai.  From the middle to late Kamakura period, these samurai rebelled against the manor lords, sometimes collaborating with local farmers, eliminating the intervention of the shogunate, and turning their control over their land into a fait accompli.

     When the Kamakura Shogunate collapsed and the turmoil during the Southern and Northern Courts Period became prolonged and large-scale, some samurai began to travel across the country to fight in order to receive rewards for their military exploits. They were completely different from those in the Kamakura Period, when they managed manors backed by the authority of the lords, and, instead, they relied on their own military might to wage war.  They sometimes committed plunder, and preferred conspicuous conducts and noticeable clothes.  Their culture and lifestyle was called basara.  This principle of behavior, in contrast to traditional values, was seen as a symbol of the collapse of order or social disorder from the ancient system's point of view.  They were regarded as the villain of the nation.

     It is unknown how Masanobu behaved and what his clothes looked like, but he was definitely the "villain" from the establishment's point of view.

     Ironically enough, it was the Southern Court, who claimed to be the orthodox bloodline of the Royal Family, that depended on villains more to fight against the Northern Cour, which was supported by the Ashikaga Shogunate and other high ranking samurai.

     As a result, during the Southern and Northern Courts Period, the number of the manors owned and ruled by provincial governments drastically decreased.  In 1401, Emperor Jianwen (1377-?) of Ming China bestowed the throne of Japan on Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408), the 3rd Shogun of the Ashikaga Shogunate.

     In Akumi County, Masanobu built Nakayama Fortress, where Matsuyama Castle was built later.  In 1392, through the mediation of Yoshimitsu, Emperor Go-Kameyama (1350-1424) of the Southern Court agreed to establish an alliance between the Southern Court and the Northern Court, with the condition that the provincial territories across Japan be owned by the Southern Court bloodline, handed over the three sacred treasures to Emperor Go-Komatsu (1377-1433) of the Northern Court, and the Southern and Northern Courts were united.

     Masanobu was defeated by Anpo Mitsuyasu, who ruled the Amarume area in Tagawa County (Amarume, Shonai, Higashitagawa District, Yamagata 999-7781), in Magishima Village (Magishima, Shonai, Higashitagawa District, Yamagata 999-7705) in 1396 and died of the wound in Tajiri Village (Takeda, Sakata, Yamagata 999-6848) in 1397.

      Masanobu's son, Masatoshi, was in Kyoto.  He returned to his hometown, stayed in Soko-ji Temple for a while, and became a farmer in Mochiyama Village (Kamimochiyama, Sakata, Yamagata 999-6842), Akumi County.

     Who can blame Masanobu's having no or little foresight?  Victory or defeat is a matter of luck, or did Masanobu have just no foresight?

An old cherry tree

Shall never die.

As long as the temple lasts.

     The temple still lasts but the cherry tree Tosui mentioned died.

Address: 8 Sokojisawa, Sakata, Yamagata 999-6831

Phone: 0234-62-2170

Eitoku-ji Temple

Address: Monzen-1 Nagasakae, Kanegasaki, Isawa District, Iwate 029-4505

Phone: 0197-44-3171

Otori Fortress Ruins

Address: Tatenoyama Iizaka, Fukushima, 960-0201

Wakuya Fortress Ruins

Address: Shimocho-3-2 Wakuya, Toda District, Miyagi 987-0121

Phone: 0229-42-3327

Ryozen Fortress Ruins

Address: Ryozenmachi Ishida, Date, Fukushima 960-0807

Shizukuishi Fortress Ruins

Address: 28 Shimomachihigashi, Shizukuishi, Iwate District, Iwate 020-0520

Dewa Kokubun-ji Temple

Address: 2 Chome-8-88 Yakushimachi, Yamagata, 990-0053

Phone: 023-624-4111

Kitabatake Shrine

Address: 421 Araya, Tendō, Yamagata 994-0054

Phone: 023-653-6533

Uzumine Fortress Ruins

Address: Hinokuchi Tamuramachi Yatagawa, Sukagawa, Fukushima 963-1246

Nakayama Fortress Ruins

Address: 34 Shinyashiki, Sakata, Yamagata 999-6832

Phone: 0234-61-4885