Virtual Old Tsugaru 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #30 Matsukura-Kannon-do Hall

 

     Mount Bonju is located in 40°48′0″N 140°34′32″E between Goshogawara and Aomori Cities.  Some of Shakyamuni Buddha's cremated remains are believed to have been entombed somewhere on the mountain.

     Dosho (629-700) studied Buddhism from 653 to 660 under Xuanzang (602-664), who made his journey to India from 629 to 645 to bring Indian texts to China.  After 680, Dosho visited remote provinces in Japan to spread Buddhism across Japan.  He is believed to have named the mountain Bonju, literally Brahman Bead.

     It is unknown when Kannon-ji Temple was founded on the side of the mountain.

     In 1208, Fujiwara Yoshitsugu and Yoshiuchi escaped from Hiraizumi after Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199) destroyed the Northern Fujiwara Clan in 1189.  The brothers revived Kannon-ji Temple, inviting Priest Konko (1154-1217).

     After the Meiji Restoration Government issued the Gods and Buddhas Separation Order in 1868, the temple was changed into Kuraokami Shrine with the Kannon-do hall left in the precincts of the shrine.  Kuraokami or Okami is a legendary Japanese dragon and Shinto deity of rain and snow.  The shrine was renamed Matsukura Shrine in 1872, merging Maedanome-Kumano-gu Shrine, which has become a place to worship and offer prayers to Matsukura Shrine afar from Inubashiri Hamlet.

Address: Nowaki 102, Maedanome, Goshogawara, Aomori 037-0631

Phone: 0172-62-3382

Matsukura Shrine Maedanome Yohai-sho

Address: Inubashiri Maedanome, Goshogawara, Aomori 037-0631