Virtual Old Tsugaru 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #4 Fumon-in Temple

 

     There used to be Mt. Shigemori in Shigemorimachi, Hirosaki, Aomori 036-8217.  An image of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, was enshrined on the top of the mountain.  The mountain was higher than Hirosaki Castle.

     From a viewpoint to defend the castle, Tsugaru Nobuhira (1586-1631), the lord of the castle, mobilized 1,000 laborers a day to cut down the mountain from January to June, 1615.  The Arya Avalokitesvara was moved to its present place.  It is unknown whether Fumon-in Temple was founded to take care of the Buddhist image before the image's relocation or after.

     Besides Old Tsugaru 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #3 Chosho-ji Temple and #4 Fumon-in Temple, 31 Caodong Chan temples were gathered across the Hirosaki Domain and composed Zenringai, or 33 Temples of Chan Area.  We can often find temple areas in castle towns in Japan, but it is rare that the temples which belong to the same Buddhist sect were assembled in an area to guard the castle's ura-kimon, namely the Opposite of Ogre Gate.  Kimon is north-east and ura-iimon is, accordingly, south-west.

     In China, where the lunar old calendar is used, the year-end and New Year days mark not only the turning point of the year but also the transition from winter to spring.  It was a time of great change, and people tended to be sick.  They thought demons came to make them sick.

     On the other hand, in the Chinese zodiac system that have been used since ancient times, seasons and directions used the same phrases: Rat, Cow, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Chicken, Dog, and Wild Boar.

     New Year's Eve, the boundary of the year, falls between Cow and Tiger.  The direction north-east also falls between Cow and Tiger.  At the time between Cow and Tiger, there come demons.  Then, they should come from the direction between Cow and Tiger, from north-east.  North-east is the gate for demons.  It's a very plain syllogism.

     Kimon idea is supposed to have been imported to Japan by the end of the 9th century.  It is unknown when the ura-kimon idea was created in Japan.  Asukabe Tsunenori painted the king of Kasi, an ancient kingdom of India, killing ogres in the south-western-corner room of Seiryoden, Emperor's Habitual Residence, of the Kyoto Imperial Palace in 964.  The room is called Oni-no-ma, Ogre Room.

Address: 2 Chome−17−4 Nishishigemori, Hirosaki, Aomori 036-8273

Phone: 0172-32-5105

Zenringai (33 Temples of Zen Area)

Address: Nishishigemori, Hirosaki, Aomori 036-8273

Phone: 0172-35-3131