Virtual Okitama 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #17 Undo-an Temple

 

     Shimo-Isazawa Village had Matsukawa Ferry Port, where Matsukawa Bridge is over Mogami River.  The Shikama Family used to live near the port.  They enshrined an Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha image at home.  The image was moved up to its present place.

     Shikama is the family name originated from Yamagata Prefecture although their offspring emigrated to Tokyo, Hokkaido, Kanagawa, and Saitama Prefectures.  Two thirds of Shikama's in Yamagata Prefecture still live in Nagai City.

     As Hogwarts has house-elves, so Imperial Court had sanitation engineers and others.  Those who prepared for ceremonies and cleaned up after the ceremonies belonged to the Kamon-ryo, which belonged to the Imperial Household Ministry.  80 people were assigned to the Kamon-ryo.

     The Shikama Family said they used to belong to the Kamon-ryo, that they prepared for ceremonies, and that they cleaned up.  It's a mystery that we have no Shikama in Kyoto.  If they had told a lie, however, they would have told a bigger lie.  It is unknown how they arrived in Dewa Province.  One possibility is that they followed a member of the Fujiwara Clan who was dispatched to the province.  The other possibility is that they escaped from Kyoto, which was in chaos after the Onin War (1467-1477), counting on their acquaintances or relatives.  Did they change their family name after their arrival in Dewa?

     Their family name's natation literally means Wish Pot.  Let's check other Shikamas with different notations.

     Four Pots: There are more Shikamas with this notation.  They also concentrate in Nagai City.

     Color Friction: There are more Shikamas with this notation.  They also concentrate in Yamagata Prefecture, but more live in Yonezawa City.

     Wish Sickle: There are more Shikamas with this notation.  They concentrate in Yamagata City.

     Deer Room: Their number far exceeds those of other Shikamas, but they concentrate in Chiba Prefecture.  Probably, their origin is quite different from that of Shikamas in Yamagata Prefecture.

     So?  So what?  The only Shikama we can find in Kyoto is the name of a pattern of Japanese cloth or fabric such as in Nishijin-ori, literally  Nishijin fabric, a traditional textile produced in Nishijin.  When 4 crests equally queue up, the pattern is called Shikama.  For your information, when 6 crests equally queue up, the pattern is called Mukama.

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