Virtual Kesen 33 Kannon Pigrimage #6 Bato Kannon-do Hall

 

     It is unknown when a Horse-Headed Hayagriva statue was enshrined in Katajike Hamlet, Yahagi Village, Kesen County, Mutsu Province.  The statue is said to have a furious look.  The predecessor hall was built sometime between 1804 and 1817.  As its precincts have stone guardian dogs, the hall's predecessor might have been Komagata Shrine.

     Horse-Headed Hayagriva is called Bato Kannon in Japanese, so, in one sense, the hall is nameless.  It is unknown why they didn't name it Katajike something when they founded it, but, as there are countless Kannon-ji Temples in Japan, we can't blame their naming sense.  They might have found it safe to leave it nameless.  However, why, then, didn't they choose Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, safely?

Address: Katajike-12-2 Yahagicho, Rikuzentakata, Iwate 029-2201

Trees In the Town

Trees In the Town

Virtual Kesen 33 Kannon Pigrimage #5 Kamiosabe Kannon-do Hall

 

     At the turn of the 12th century, the ancestors of the Sugawara Family escaped to Osabe Village, Kesen County, Mutsu Province.  As #3, #4, and #5 deities of the Kesen 33 Kannon Pilgrimage are called Osabe 3 Kannon, the ancestors of Koya and Kumagai Families might have also escaped together.  Escaped from what?  The timing suggests they escaped from the destruction of the Northern Fujiwara Clan in 1189 by Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199).

     The original deity was a 5-centimeters-tall image of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, but it has been replaced by a 50-centimeters-tall sitting statue of Arya Avalokitesvara.

     What is Osabe?

     Osabe Village was located south of Imaizumi Village, facing Koharagi Village, Motoyoshi County, to the south, and Hirota Bay to the east.  According to a letter dated June 2nd, 1588, addressed to Konno Jirozaemon by Kasai Harunobu (15334-1597), a battle took place in Osabe during the rebellion of Hamada Hirotsuna (1523-1592), who was defeated.  In 1705, Osabe Village had 76 families with a total of 801 people, 8 slaves, 31 peasants, including 318 salt boilers, and 20 guns. The village had 275 horses, 3 bigger boats, 19 fishing boats, 17 small boats, 27 fast boats, and 25 one-seater boats.  The village seems to have depended on fishing and horse breeding.

     Who was Hamada Hirotsuna?

     The Kanto samurai didn't come to Kesen County at the beginning of Kamakura Period, and the Kon Family ruled the county under the title of Kesen County Governor, which was the same title their ancestors were given by the Imperial Court in the ancient times.

     The Kon Family fought on the side of the Northern Fujiwara Clan when Yoritomo destroyed the clan in 1189, and Kon Hidetoki was killed in battle.  His son, Tametoshi, hid in the mountains, and, when Okawa Kaneto, who was based along the eastern shore of Hachiro-gata Lagoon, and who was a remnant of the Northern Fujiwara Clan, rebelled against the Kamakura Shogunate from December, 1189, to March of the following year, Tametoshi served on the side of the Kamakura Shogunate, and is said to have been restored to the position of the county governor.

     The Kon Family is said to have been based in Yokota Motojuku Fortress.  During the Warring States Period, the Kon Family was encroached upon by the power of the samurai from Motoyoshi County and declined.  The Hamada Family was one of the samurai and they were based in Azuma Fortress.  Anyway, as the county had a few rice fields, it was rather peaceful.

     Something, however, came over Hamada Hirotsuna.  He had Shigetoshi and Nobukatsu, his 1st and 2nd sons, adopted into the Esashi Family in Esashi County, Mutsu Province, and started invading southward in his 60's.  He defeated Motoyoshi Shigetsugu in the Utatsu Battle in 1586 and annexed the Utatsu area.  In 1587, he challenged Kumagai Naoyoshi, the lord of Akaiwa Fortress, but the battlefront became deadlocked when the Kasai Family supported Naoyoshi, resulting in a ceasefire.  In March, 1588, Hirotsuna again objected to the reduction in his territory and attempted to recapture Yonegasaki Fortress, which had been taken by the Oikawa Family, but was defeated, losing all his territory.

     His third son, Nobutsuna, succeeded to the headship of the family.

     In 1590, the Kasai Family was "dismissed" by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598).  On October 16th of the year, revolts against Hideyoshi's rule broke out.  On July 4th, 1591, the revolts were finally suppressed.  On August 14th, Date Masamune (1567-1636) summoned the leaders of the revolts to Sueyama, Momunofu County, Mutsu Province, and killed them all.

     Nobutsuna took part in the revolts and was killed by Masamune.  The Hamada Family lost its power and Hirotsuna went into seclusion.  He died in 1592 at the age of 70.

     Whether Hirotsuna went wrong in his late 60's or not wouldn't have changed the Hamada Family's final doom.

     What was Motoyoshi County like?

     Before the 8th century, the Kesen area was outside the rule of the Imperial Court and was inhabited by northern foreigners.

     In 758, Monou Fortress was built as a base for the Imperial Army.  The area of what would later become Motoyoshi County was part of Monou County.

     Before 811, the northern half of Monou County was divided, and Kesen County was organized, including what would later become the northern part of Motoyoshi County.

     Before the beginning of the 12th century, Motoyoshi Manor was established by combining the northern part of Monou County and the southern part of Kesen County, with the Shizugawa area, which was a hub for maritime traffic, as its center.  Initially, the manor was owned by the Fujiwara Clan, and later became under the direct control of the Emperor.  The manor's main tax was gold and horses.  It became one of the bases of the Northern Fujiwara Clan, who were in charge of transporting taxes.  It is recorded that the 4th son of Fujiwara Hidehira (1122-1187), Takahira(?-1201), ruled the manor.  It is unknown when the manor became Motoyoshi County.

     The county was first documented in 1611, when Sebastian Vizcaino (1548-1624), a Spanish explorer, surveyed the coasts of Oshika, Monou, Motoyoshi, and Kesen counties.

     In 1646, as part of the Tokugawa Shogunate's policy of national isolation, Date Tadamune (1600-1658), the 2nd lord of the Sendai Domain, ordered the establishment of 5 coast guard observation posts within the domain.  One of the 5 was established at Tomarihama in Utatsu Village.

Address: Kamiosabe-17 Kesencho, Rikuzentakata, Iwate 029-2204

Yokota Motojuku Fortress

Address: Motojuku, Yokotacho, Rikuzentakata, Iwate 029-2202

Azuma Fortress Site

Address: Honmaru Takatacho, Rikuzentakata, Iwate 029-2205

Utatsu Fort Site

Address: Tatehama Utatsu, Minamisanriku, Motoyoshi District, Miyagi 988-0445

Akaiwa Fortress Site

Address: Matsukawa, Kesennuma, Miyagi 988-0852

Yonegasaki Fortress Ruins

Address: Tate-65-2 Yonesakicho, Rikuzentakata, Iwate 029-2206

Tomarihama Foreign Ships Guardhouse Site

Address:  Utatsu, Minamisanriku, Motoyoshi District, Miyagi 988-0444

Hachigamori Foreign Ships Guardhouse Site

Address: Hachigamori Sanrikucho Ryori, Ofunato, Iwate 022-0211

Ayukawagahama Foreign Ships Guardhouse Site

Address: Ayukawahama, Ishinomaki, Miyagi 986-2523

Ohama Foreign Ships Guardhouse Site

Address: Miyato, Higashimatsushima, Miyagi 981-0412

Phone: 0225-88-3927

Isozakiyama Foreign Ships Guardhouse Site

Address: Hamayachi 44-1, Sakamoto, Yamamoto, Watari District, Miyagi 989-2111

Trees In the Town

Virtual Kesen 33 Kannon Pigrimage #4 Yogai Kannon-do Hall

 

     It is unknown when a 5-centimeters-tall golden image of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, was enshrined in Kesen County.  The image has been taken care of by the Kumagai Family.  Presumably, the family's ancestors were samurai, and they fought with the image in their helmet.  If so, the hall was built after the Warring States Period to enshrine their guardian Buddhist image.

Address: Yogai Kesencho, Rikuzentakata, Iwate 029-2204

Trees In the Town

Virtual Kesen 33 Kannon Pigrimage #3 Koya Kannon-do Hall

 

     It is unknown when a Kannon-do hall was built in Koya Hamlet, Kesen Village, Kesen County, Mutsu Province.  Originally, a 5-centimeters-tall golden image of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, was enshrined.  As it was stolen, a wooden image is enshrined, and is taken care of by the Yoshida Family, whose house name is O-Koya, literally Big Koya.  Presumably, their ancestors were samurai, and they fought with the original image in their helmet.  If so, the hall was built after the Warring States Period to enshrine their guardian Buddhist image.

Address: Koya, Kesencho, Rikuzentakata, Iwate 029-2204

Trees In the Town

Virtual Kesen 33 Kannon Pigrimage #2 Kongo-ji Temple

 

     According to local tradition, Oe Chisato was either shunted or exiled to Kesen County.  As Priest Yuban prayed for Chisato's return to Kyoto, the prayer was answered in 888.  Chisato founded Kongo-ji Temple for the priest. 

     Oe Chisato was a Japanese tanka poet and Confucian scholar in the late 9th and early 10th centuries.  His exact birth and death dates are unknown but his appointments were documented from 883 to 903.  In 883, he was appointed to be an officer of Bicchu Province.  In 897, he was promoted.  So, it is possible he was either shunted or exiled for a short while.

     He seems to have been favored as a tanka poet by Emperor Uda (867-931), who reigned from 887 to 897.  His 25 tanka poems were adopted in the chokusen wakashu, imperially-commissioned Japanese anthologies of tanka poetry:

When I looked at the moon in Autumn,

My heart is broken into a thousand pieces.

The moon isn't owned by me alone.

     On March 11th, 2011, the temple was hit by the tsunami caused by the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake.  The temple's main deity, the image of Cintamanicakra, who usually has 6 arms and holds chintamani (a wish-fulfilling jewel) in one of the six, was later found in mud and enshrined in Enjo-ji Temple.

     Will the moon be owned by a single dictator in the near future?

Address: Machiura-29 Kesencho, Rikuzentakata, Iwate 029-2204

Phone: 0192-55-3662

Enjo-ji Temple

Address: Atagoshita-7 Yahagicho, Rikuzentakata, Iwate 029-2201

Phone: 0192-58-2323

Trees In the Town

Virtual Kesen 33 Kannon Pigrimage #1 Senzo-ji Temple

 

     There is a huge rock whose form evokes a childbirth scene in the Kesen area.  The rock must have been worshiped even in prehistoric days by those who belonged to Jomon culture.  Those who belonged to Yayoi Culture arrived in the area, and Kesen County was first documented in Shoku Nihongi, which covered the years 697-791, and whose compilation was completed in 797.  A Kannon-do hall was built to enshrine the rock in 810 in Miyoshi Woods, Kesen County, Mutsu Province. 

     Sen-hime (1659-1706) was the wife of Date Tsunamura (1659-1719), the 4th lord of the Sendai Domain.  She gave birth to a boy and 2 girls but they all died prematurely.  In 1704, Tsunamura moved Senzo-ji Temple, the shrine temple of Suwa Shrine, to have it take care of the huge rock.  Tsunamura built or rebuilt too many temples and shrines and worsened his domain's finances.

     Suwa Shrine was directly invited from Suwa Grand Shrine in Shinano Province in 1160.

Senzo-ji Temple is also the #14 member temple of the Old Mutsu 33 Kannon Pigrimage.

Address: Aragawa-127 Kesencho, Rikuzentakata, Iwate 029-2204

Suwa Shrine

Address: Machiura-3 Kesencho, Rikuzentakata, Iwate 029-2204

Phone: 0192-55-2934

Trees In the Town

Kesen 33 Kannon Pilgrimage

 

     Sasaki Saburozaemon of Takata Village organized the Kesen 33 Kannon Pilgrimage in Kesen County, Mutsu Province, in 1718 as a memorial service for his late parents.

     Kesen County was first documented in 811.  It became independent from Momunofu County, which had been organized sometime between 757 and 771.

     Many powerful samurai were killed in conspiracy by Izumida Shigemitsu (1529-1596) and Yashiro Kageyori (1563-1608), the vassals of Date Masamune (1567-1636), in Nukazuka Fort at Sueyama, Momunofu County, Mutsu Province, in 1590.  Ishinomaki Shiritsu Kananhigashi Junior High School is located in the site of the fort.

     Saburozaemon could have been the offspring of the victims of the slaughter.

     The Kesen area was badly damaged by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and its tsunami, and the pilgrimage and its member temples are still under recovery and reconstruction.

Ishinomaki Shiritsu Kananhigashi Junior High School

Address: Nukazuka-3-3 Sue, Ishinomaki, Miyagi 987-1221

Trees In the Town

Virtual New Mutsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #33 Tendai-ji Temple

 

     The clear water gushes out from the roots of a large Katsura (cercidiphyllum japonicum) tree at the foot of Tendai-ji Temple, which was known as Keisen Kannon, Cercidiphyllum Japonicum Spring Avalokitesvara.  Even in prehistoric days, the spring was worshiped as a sacred place, later developed into a sacred place of Kannon, and then was amalgamated into the northernmost Buddhist culture in Japan in ancient times.  An image of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, is believed to have been enshrined in 728.

     The existing Buddhist images date back to the Nara period.  In the fifth excavation survey conducted in 1980, the remains of a building with foundation stones were found on the east side of the current main hall.  Based on the state of the excavated pottery and the Towada volcanic ash that erupted on August 17th, 915, it was estimated that Tendai-ji Temple was founded in the 10th century.  The Arya Avalokitesvara image is thought to have been made in the mid-10th century.

     The Towada Lake eruption occurred in the Nakaumi caldera, devastating the surrounding area with pyroclastic flows and lahars and covering most of the North-Eastern region of Japan with volcanic ash, leading to crop failures, climate change, and famines.  The eruption might have unmotivated the Imperial Army.  After the organization of Iwate County in the 10th century, they seem to have stopped advancing further north.  In the meantime, samurai's days came, and Mutsu Province came under the rule of the Abe Family in the 11th century.

Address: Oyamakubo-33 Joboji, Ninohe, Iwate 028-6942

Phone: 0195-38-2500

Katsura Spring

Address: Oyamakubo-28 Joboji, Ninohe, Iwate 028-6942

Trees In the Town

Virtual New Mutsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #32 Shogaku-in Temple

 

     Shogaku-in Temple was founded in June, 807, near the source of the Kitakami River, with Ryokei, who is said to have belonged to the Sakanoue Family, but whose record can't be found,  as its priest.  The foundation is said to have been supported by Sakanoue Tamuramaro (758-811), who officially had 11 sons and 2 daughters.  Ryokei could have been a local son of his.

     In 791, Tamuramaro was dispatched to the eastern provinces to prepare for the war against the foreigners in the northeastern part of Honshu Island.  In 794, he invaded the region, with the military successes of beheading 457 and taking 150 captive.  On January 9th, 802, Tamuramaro was dispatched to northern foreigners' land to build Isawa Fortress.  On the 10th, 4000 jobless people from Suruga, Kai, Sagami, Musashi, Kazusa, Shimousa, Hitachi, Kozuke, and Shimotsuke Provinces were ordered to go to Isawa to build the fortress.  The Mutsu Provincial Government was located in Taga Castle, but its Military Government was moved to Isawa Fortress in the year.  Under military pressure, two enemy chiefs, Aterui and More, surrendered.  Tamuramaro brought back the two to the capital on July 10th, and the two were killed on August 13th against Tamuramaro’s intention to have them keep working in a unified Japan as chiefs in the northeastern region.  He might have the Kuninomiyatsuko system in his mind.

     In the prehistoric days of Japan, the country was unified by organizing Kuninomiyatsuko in remote areas.  They were local powerful families.  The Pacific side of the Tohoku Region had 10 Kuninomiyatsuko: Kikuta Kuninomiyatsuko, Iwaki Kuninomiyatsuko, Someha Kuninomiyatsuko, Ukita Kuninomiyatsuko, Watari Kuninomiyatsuko, Shirakawa Kuninomiyatsuko, Iwase Kuninomiyatsuko, Asaka Kuninomiyatsuko, Shinobu Kuninomiyatsuko, and Iku Kuninomiyatsuko.  At the beginning, the northern limit of the Kuninomiyatsuko system was in today's Fukushima Prefecture.  Later, Emperor Karu (596-654) introduced the County system.

Shogaku-in Temple, where Ryokei was left, was located about 200 kilometers north from Isawa Fortress.  Ryokei wasn't killed but could have been confined there.  About a century later, the Imperial Army advanced further north and Iwate County was organized with the temple's surrounding area as part of it.  Ryokei couldn't have survived till then.

Address: Dai 3 Chiwari-9 Mido, Iwate, Iwate District, Iwate 028-4306

Phone: 0195-62-8319

Trees In the Town

Virtual New Mutsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #31 Shofuku-ji Temple

 

     A Seven-Faced Avalokitesvara iron image was enshrined at the foot of Mt. Nanashigure in 728.  The image is supposed to have been part of a kakebotoke with Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha.

     A kakebotoke was a Buddhist image on the top of a mirror.  In Shinto, a native Japanese religion, a mirror was an object of worship.  Under the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism, we started engraving a petroglyph of a Buddhist image on a bronze mirror in the 10th century.  Later, those images became gorgeous and three-dimensional.  They were made till the end of the Edo Period, but many of them were discarded after the Gods and Buddhas Separation Order was issued by the Meiji Restoration Government in 1868.

     In 1919, Monk Nangoku-in, who took care of the image, left Buddhist priesthood, and the image was moved to Shofuku-ji Temple, with its hall left in the precincts of Shirasaka-Hachiman-gu Shrine.

     Shofuku-ji Temple was founded in 1596 by the Kita Family.

     Ishikawa Takanobu (1495-1571), who was a brother of Nanbu Yasunobu (1493-1541), built Terada Fortress in the hill behind Shofuku-ji Temple.  In 1582, Kita Chikakazu, a vassal of the Nanbu Family, was based in the fortress.  In 1655, the 4th head of the Kita Family, Iwamatsu, died young with no heir.  The family line died out, and the family's vassal, Sasaki Rokusuke, left 4-koku-worth land to Shofuku-ji Temple, ordered the temple to hold memorial services forever, and committed suicide upon the death of Iwamatsu.

Address: Dai 20 Chiwari-27 Nishineterada, Hachimantai, Iwate 028-7401

Phone: 0195-77-2940

Shirasakahachimangu

Shirasakakannondo

Address: Dai 2 Chiwari−44, Nishineterada, Hachimantai, Iwate 028-7401

Terada Fortress Site

Address: Dai 19 Chiwari Nishineterada, Hachimantai, Iwate 028-7401

Trees In the Town

Virtual New Mutsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #30 Hoda-ji Temple

 

     Fudaraku-ji Temple was founded in 890 near the sea in Ozawada, Akasaka, Kesen County, Mutsu Province.  The area around the temple used to be a sea inlet, and the temple grounds were often washed away by waves during rough seas, and the temple gradually declined.

     In 1501, Kumagai Naomoto, who was the lord of Hosoura Fortress, and who was subject to the Kasai Family, was sorry for the temple's decline, moved it to his fortress, and revived it.  He invited Priest Ryoha, renamed it Fuda-ji, and transferred it to Caodong Chan School.

     Priest Bun'an moved the temple to its present place in 1538.

Address: 2 Chome-2-51 Furumachi, Kesennuma, Miyagi 988-0077

Phone: 0226-22-0981

Akasaka Public Park

Address: 208 Matsuzakisotogasawa, Kesennuma, Miyagi 988-0152

Hosoura Hachiman-gu Shrine (Hosoura Fortress Site)

Address: Tateyama, Kesennuma, Miyagi 988-0076

Trees In the Town

Virtual New Mutsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #29 Fumon-ji Temple

 

     Some say that Fumon-ji Temple was founded in 1241, supported by Kon Umanosuke, whose official name was Abe Sadatoshi.  He was the then lord of Nakayama Fortress and invited Priest Kigai, a disciple of Eisai (1141-1215), who established the Linqi Chan Sect.  Later, it was revived by Priest Nyogen in 1494 or 1504, and was converted to the Caodong Chan Sect.  Others say that it was founded by Priest Jusatsu in 1528.  In either case, its foundation was too late for the organization of the New Mutsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage in 1123.

     There are 5 Niyama Shrines between Ofunato and Ishinomaki Cities.  Legend has it that Rikuzentakata also had Niyama Shrine and Fumon-ji Temple used to be located in the shrine's precincts.  Jusatsu is said to have moved the temple to its present place.

Niiyama Shrine in Ishinomaki is said to have been founded in 781 or 782.

     Presumably, Niiyama Shrine was invited to today's Rikuzentakata in the 9th century, and the image of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, was enshrined as its original deity under the amalgamation of Shinto and Buddhism.  When Kasai Harushige (1469-1534) ruled the Pacific coast of Northern Miyagi Prefecture and Southern Iwate Prefecture, a certain political and military diastrophism took place in today's Rikuzentakata and its surrounding area.  Presumably, the Kon Family declined and the area became under the direct rule of the Kasai Family, who had migrated as samurai from the Kanto Region at the beginning of the Kamakura Period (1185-1333).

Address: Jitakesawa-181 Yonesakicho, Rikuzentakata, Iwate 029-2206

Phone: 0192-55-2034

Nakayama Fortress Site

Address: Nozawa, Yonesakicho, Rikuzentakata, Iwate 029-2206

Yonegasaki Fortress Ruins

Address: Tate-65-2 Yonesakicho, Rikuzentakata, Iwate 029-2206

Niiyama Shrine

Address: 3 Chome−35 Ogatsucho Kamiogatsu, Ishinomaki, Miyagi 986-1336

Phone: 0225-58-3355

Trees In the Town

Virtual New Mutsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #28 Daizen-in Temple Takoura-Kannon-do Hall

 

     It is unknown when Daizen-in Temple Takoura-Kannon-do Hall was founded in Kesen County, Mutsu Province.  The hall is located in the precincts of Ozaki Shrine, which is said to have been founded in 783.  Presumably, Daizen-in Temple was founded as Ozaki Shrine's shrine temple before the New Mutsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage was organized in 1123 and was abolished after the Meiji Restoration with its Kannon-do hall left.  Takonoura is the place name which means Octopus' Inlet.

     Takonoura is known for its fishing port and the Takonoura shell midden, which is an archaeological site consisting of a Jomon period shell midden and the remains of an adjacent settlement.  The rocky rias coast of Iwate Prefecture was densely settled from the early through late Jomon period.  The midden has many varieties of shellfish, fish bones, and the bones of mammals such as dogs, Sitka deer, whales, wolves and dolphins.  In addition, stone axes, weights, and carved bone objects, such as fish hooks, and bone jewelry have been found. 

     Kesen County was first documented in 811, independent from Monou County, which was organized sometime between 757 and 771.  Presumably, Ozaki Shrine was founded when the Kesen area was developed to be organized into Kesen County.

     The county was actually ruled by Kon Family until the then family head was killed in slaughter in Sueyama, Momunofu County, Mutsu Province, in 1590.

     In 1590, both the Osaki and Kasai Families were "dismissed" by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598).  On October 16th of the year, revolts against Hideyoshi's rule broke out.  On July 4th, 1591, the revolts were finally suppressed.  On August 14th, Date Masamune (1567-1636) summoned the leaders of the revolts to Sueyama and killed them all.

The Kon Family lasted long but the fisheries in the county has lasted longer.

Address: Torisawa-176-5 Akasakicho, Ofunato, Iwate 022-0007

Ozaki Shrine

Address: Torisawa-75 Akasakicho, Ofunato, Iwate 022-0007

Phone: 0192-26-4078

Trees In the Town

Virtual New Mutsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #27 Kanpuku-ji Temple

 

     Kanpuku-ji Temple used to be the shrine temple of Mokusa Shrine.

     Mokusa Shrine was founded in 718.  In 799, a Horse-Headed Hayagriva statue was enshrined, and Tojo-ji Temple was founded for it.  In 850, an image of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, was enshrined.  In 852, Mokusa Shrine was listed in Nihon Montoku Tenno Jitsuroku, or the True History of Emperor Montoku of Japan, which is a Japanese history text completed in 879.  It is the fifth text in the Six National Histories series.  It covers the years 850-858, the years of reign of Emperor Montoku (827-858), the 55th Japanese emperor.

     Japanese swords are known for their curves.  Some say the curving style started in Mokusa after repeated improvement based on the experience through fighting between the Imperial Army and northern foreigners.  As Iwai County was organized in 804, it is doubtful that the Mokusa area was under the Imperial Army's rule when swordsmiths started their work in the area.  They came under the military rules presumably in the 9th century.

In the 930's, Mokusa Awa established the Mokusa style of Japanese swords.

Address: Ryugasawa-7 Maikawa, Ichinoseki, Iwate 021-0221

Phone: 0191-28-2420

Mokusa Shrine

Address: Odaira-5 Maikawa, Ichinoseki, Iwate 021-0221

Phone: 0191-46-5319

Mokusa Blacksmith Ruins

Address: Odaira Maikawa, Ichinoseki, Iwate 021-0221

Trees In the Town

Virtual New Mutsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #26 Chosen-ji Temple

 

     Eiho-ji Temple was founded in 1082 in Iwai County, Mutsu Province, supported by Makino Yasuaki.  The temple belonged to Tiantai Sect at first. 

     Iwai County was organized in 804.  At first, military rule was imposed in the county as well as in Isawa and Esashi Counties, which were organized at the same time, and in Shiwa, Waga, and Hinue Counties, which were organized in 811.  In the 10th century, Iwai County, which was located southernmost among the 6 counties, was transferred to a civilian government under the Mutsu Provincial Government in Taga Castle.

     Presumably, the Ohara area along the Satetsu River might have developed into an independent village at the beginning of the 11th century.

     The Later Three-Year War broke out in Mutsu and Dewa Provinces in 1083.  It was a kind of internal strife within the Kiyohara Clan at least at first.  First, Kiyohara Iehira (?-1087) and Kiyohira (1056-1128) fought against Sanehira (?-1083).  After Sanehira’s death, Iehira clashed against Kiyohira.  From the central government, Minamoto Yoshiie (1039-1106) intervened in the conflict.  The intervention brought victory to Kiyohira, who then picked up his paternal family name, Fujiwara, and the Kiyohara Clan disappeared in 1087.

     The rising of small-scale samurai-like powerful families like the Makino Family might have added fuel to fire.

     The temple was transferred to Caodong Chan School in 1444, and was renamed Chosen-ji in 1506.   The arrival of Caodong Chan School might mean the arrival of samurai's days.

     One day, while the priest was doing his usual religious service in the main hall, a young girl was listening intently.  The priest asked her where she came from.  She replied, "I am a turtle and live in the Kabutoyama Pond in the mountains.  I want to live here for tens of thousands of years, so please give me a Buddhist name."  The priest kindly accepted and gave her the Buddhist name "Horen Myoki."  The girl was delighted, thanked him many times, and returned to the mountain.

     The priest changed the temple's sango to Kiho-san and its jigo to Chosen-ji,.  Kiho means Turtle Peak, and Chosen means Long Fountain.  Believe it or not.

Address: Chosenjisaki−10−10, Daitocho Ohara, Ichinoseki, Iwate 029-0711

Phone: 0191-72-2267