Virtual Yashima Domain 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #19 Kannon-do Hall

 

     Sonsha Mitake Shrine is located near Yoda-tate Fort Site, which was built by the Tomai Family, and which was documented in 1563.

     Ogasawara Shikibunosho left Shinano Province, presumably hating or being tired of the infighting of the Ogasawara Family.  He arrived at Tomai Village (today's Higashiyuritateai, Yurihonjo, Akita 015-0221), Yuri County, Dewa Province, sometime between 1467 and 1469, presumably adopted by the local powerful family, and he ruled the village.  He called his family Tomai.

     In the middle of the 16th century, the Tomai Family didn't have a male successor and adopted a son-in-law from today's Yamada, Yuzawa, Akita 012-0055.  However, the family had a boy and infighting started.  In 1563, the son-in-law shut himself up in Yoda-tate Fort with a few attendants from Yamada.  From January 15th to 16th, the Tomai samurai attacked the fort from both sides and killed those from Yamada.

     The Yoda-tate Fort Site has a 1-meter-tall stone monument.  As the fort and shrine were in the hill, villagers built another Sonsha Mitake Shrine along Iwaisou River at the border between Terada and Ishida Hamlets for their convenience.  It was a kind of the abode for the god near the village.  Its stone monument alone exists today where the Prefectural Road 48 meets the river.

     The place name Terada suggests the land used to be dedicated to the Kannon-do Hall of Sonsha Mitake Shrine, which used to enshrine the Horse-Headed Hayagriva image.  The hall could have been abolished after the Meiji Restoration Government issued the Gods and Buddhas Separation Order in 1868.  The image seems to have been moved to Sonsha Mitake Shrine in the hill.

     Annually on January 5th, villagers carried Bonden (Brahma?) and Ebisu Straw Bag to Sonsha Mitake Shrine in Terada, shouting "Joyasa Joyasa" and blowing a trumpet shell, to pray for a rich harvest and the safety of each family.  The event was documented until 1989 at the latest, but was ended by the turn of the 21st century.

     80-90 Bonden Festivals are supposed to be held in Akita Prefecture.

     The Bonden offered at the event is a type of sacred wand made of a bamboo basket attached to the end of a pole decorated with cloth or other materials, and represents the abode of a god.

Address: Terada Higashiyurioikata, Yurihonjo, Akita 015-0211

Sonsha Mitake Shrine

Address: Mitake-2, Higashiyurioikata, Yurihonjo, Akita 015-0211

Yoda-tate Fort Site

Address: 0211 015 Higashiyurioikata, Yurihonjo, Akita 015-0211