Virtual Shimokita 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #15 Daikai-ji Temple

 

     Jikan-an Hermitage was founded in Hebiura Village presumably as a shrine temple of Orito Shrine in 1649.  Hebiura was called Hebinuma when the Kakizaki Family was ousted by the Nanbu Family in 1457. Akita Gaiki and Kujo Saburobe were stationed in the village.  In 1647, the village was documented as Hebiuta.

     In 1939, Priest Rindo lived in the hermitage, and changed it to a temple in 1968, renaming it Daikai-ji.

     The temple's main deity is Shakyamuni Tathagata, with the statues of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, standing on both sides.  Usually, when a Shakamuni image was enshrined with 2 other Buddhist images on both sides, 2 different Buddhist images were enshrined.  It is, accordingly, supposed the two Arya Avalokitesvara images were added later.

     Mt. Orito is the northernmost mountain in Honshu.  Winds blow there at an average speed of 8.6 meters per second.  Locals might have felt something sacred, and Orito Shrine was enshrined on the top of the mountain in 1617.  Inari Shrine was invited to Hebiura Village in 1687.  Presumably for the convenience of the locals, Orito Shrine was invited to Inari Shrine sometime between 1716 and 1736.

     In 1881, the village exported kelp, funori seaweed, dried squid, and dried abalone, and imported rice, sake, salt, sweets, etc., resulting in an export surplus according to a survey of the import and export of goods for the previous year submitted to the governor of Aomori Prefecture by middleman Suzuki Sobei in 1882.  A report to the county governor, Kawanishi Sukushi, in 1883, stated that "the village is rich in marine products and is generally wealthy," and a report to the county governor, Shiba Taichiro, in 1886, stated that people made a living from fishing and working away from home, with neither rich nor poor.

Address: Hebiura-44-1 Hebiura, Kazamaura, Shimokita District, Aomori 039-4503

Phone: 0175-35-2828

Orito Shrine

Address: Akahira-24 Hebiura, Kazamaura, Shimokita District, Aomori 039-4503

Phone: 0175-35-2171

Oritoyama

Address: Orito Hebiura, Kazamaura, Shimokita District, Aomori 039-4503