Virtual Shimokita 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #14 Choju-in Temple

 

     It is unknown when Choju-in Temple was founded in Chogo Village.  The village was located at the mouth of Chogo River and was first documented in 1647.  In the 1780's, the village had no rice fields and had 6 households.

     Matsuura Takeshiro (1818-1888) kept the East Mutsu Coast Journal when he explored the coast of today's Aomori Prefecture for 5 times from 1844 to 1849.  According to the journal, the village's main industry was fishing and woodwork, and many young men went to Hokkaido to work.

     In 1754, Higuchi Asaemon came from Yamagata and stayed in Sai Village.  He found a copper vein in Chogo.  In 1785, Maruyama Shozaemon, a local merchant, undertook and opened the Chogo Copper Mine.  The mine produced Galena, Sphalerite, Chalcopyrite, Pyrite, Quartz, and Baryte till 1801.

     Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide.  Sphalerite is a sulfide mineral with the chemical formula S. It is the most important ore of zinc.  Chalcopyrite is a copper iron sulfide mineral and the most abundant copper ore mineral.  The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula FeS₂.  Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral.  Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue give it a superficial resemblance to gold, hence the well-known nickname of fool's gold.  Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica.

Address: Chogokawame-52-2 Chogo, Sai, Shimokita District, Aomori 039-4712