New Mutsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage

 

     Asahi, a maiden in the service Shinto in Shiga Village, Natori County, Mutsu Province, organized the New Mutsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage in 1123.

     When the Old Mutsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage was organized in 811, people living in the area composed of soldiers and farmer-soldiers of the Imperial Army, who belonged to the Yayoi Culture, those who belonged to the Jomon Culture, and those who belonged to the Satsumon Culture.  Whether they shared the same ethnicity or not is still controversial.

     In the 11th century, there were powerful ruling families in the Tohoku Region, the Abe Family in Mutsu Province and the Kiyohara Family in Dewa Province.  From 1051, the region was in a period of war.  After the wars, the Northern Fujiwara Clan became the hegemon, spreading their power over the present-day Tohoku region.  Based in Hiraizumi, they prospered from 1087 to 1189.

     In 1117, they revived Motsu-ji Temple in Hiraizumi, Iwai County, Mutsu Province.  In 1124, they built Konjiki-do Hall in the precincts of Chusonji Temple.  The New Mutsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage was organized when the Northern Fujiwara Clan tried to reproduce the Pure Land of Perfect Bliss to justify their rule.  It was in those days that the New Mutsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage was organized within the sphere of their influence. 

     After the Southern and Northern Courts Period (1336-1392), samurai in the Tohoku Region rivaled one another, it became difficult to visit the pilgrimage through hostile territories.  In 1761, the pilgrimage was revived under the Pax Tokugawana.  It is unknown whether or not some of its member temples were changed when the pilgrimage was revived.

Motsu-ji Temple

Address: Osawa-58 Hiraizumi, Nishiiwai District, Iwate 029-4102

Phone: 0191-46-2331

Konjiki-do Hall of Chusonji Temple

Address: Koromonoseki-202 Hiraizumi, Nishiiwai District, Iwate 029-4102

Phone: 0191-46-2211