Virtual Yashima Domain 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #23 Shomyo-in Temple

 

     Mount Yashio could have been a holy place for northern foreigners.  It is a good observatory to see Mount Chokai.

     Yashio-san Shrine is supposed to have been founded sometime between 1467 and 1469 by the Sato Family, who were subject to the Tomai Family, who were based in Tomai Fortress, on the top of Mount Yashio.  The shrine enshrined Gyuba Koyasu Kannon, namely the Cattle Horse Child-Rearing Avalokitesvara.  Its name suggests the area’s main industry used to be stock farming.  The shrine was abolished after 2022, and the image was moved to Yasaka Shrine in Kurobuchi. 

     There is also Yashio Shrine on the top of the mountain.  It is unknown when the shrine was founded.  It is also unknown when Shomyo-in Temple, which enshrined the Thousand-Armed Sahasrabhuja image, was founded as its shrine temple.  The temple might have been abolished after the Meiji Restoration Government issued the Gods and Buddhas Separation Order in 1868.  Although Mt. Yashiro is administratively located in Kurobuchi, Shomyo-in Temple was located in Tomai Village, which was located downstream next to Kurobuchi Village.  The temple could have been located not on the top of Mount Yashio but at the foot of it.  It is unknown whether the image is enshrined in Yashio Shrine or has gone to somewhere else.

Mount Yashio

Address: Yamanoshita Higashiyurikurobuchi, Yurihonjo, Akita 015-0231

Yashio Shrine

Address: 66PH+JR, Yurihonjo, Akita

Tomai Fortress Site

Historical landmark in Yurihonjo

Address: Tatemae-5-1 Higashiyuritateai, Yurihonjo, Akita 015-0221

Phone: 0184-69-2028

Yasaka Shrine

Address: Morinokoshi-573 Higashiyurikurobuchi, Yurihonjo, Akita 015-0231