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