Virtual Kubota Castle Town 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #4-2 Myoden Kannon-do Hall

 

     It is unknown when Isozaki Shrine was founded at the foot of Mount Myoden-Fuji along Taihei River.  In 1632, its building was rebuilt.  In 1660, it was rebuilt again.

     In 1911, it merged Kashima and Hakusan Shrines in Myoden.  In 1912, it further merged Fujisan and Myoden Shrines.  It seems Myoden-Inari-Daimyojin Shrine wasn't merged.

     The image of Horse-Headed Hayagriva used to be enshrined in Myoden Kannon-do Hall.  The image and the hall were sold after the Meiji Restoration.  Unhappy troubles happened and the locals made another image and founded Myoden Shrine to enshrine it in the precincts of Isozaki Shrine.  A religious service is performed by the Shinto priest of Iyataka Shrine on August 21st although Isozaki Shrine has its own Shinto priest.

     Mount Myoden-Fuji is recognized as the lowest Mount Fuji in Japan by the Japanese Alpine Club.  

     Tradition says that, in the Kamakura Period (1185-1333), the Fuji Family had a fortress in the mountain and that Fuji Gongen was worshiped on the mountaintop from that time.

     When Satake Yoshinobu (1570-1633), the lord of the Kubota Domain, built Kubota Castle at the beginning of the Edo Period (1603-1867), soil was excavated from Mount Fuji and was used as the filling for the construction of the castle town.  Even after the Edo Period, soil was removed to fill in the marshes, and it is said that only about a quarter of the mountain remains today.  It is unknown whether the number of shrines is large in proportion to the area of Mount Myoden-Fuji because it was a holy place since ancient times or because the religious institutions were gathered due to the shrinking of the mountain.

     Anyway, some say Myoden Kannon-do Hall is the Kubota Castle Town 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #4 and Chosen-ji Temple is the #5.  Some others claim that both #4 and #5 are enshrined in Chosen-ji Temple, and a few others suggest that the both are enshrined in the precincts of Isozaki Shrine.

Isozaki Shrine

Address: 2-48 Higashidorimyoden, Akita, 010-0005

Phone: 018-832-2066

Myoden Shrine

Address: 2-45 Higashidorimyoden, Akita, 010-0005

Phone: 018-832-2066

Iyataka Shrine

Address: 1-16 Senshukoen, Akita, 010-0876

Phone: 018-832-4496

Fuji Daigongen

Address: 1-41 Higashidorimyoden, Akita, 010-0005

Myoden-Inari-Daimyojin Shrine

Address: 3-30 Higashidorimyoden, Akita, 010-0005

Jinushiinari Shrine

Address: 13-7 Higashidoritatenokoshi, Akita, 010-0006

Myoden Cemetery

Address: 1-34 Higashidorimyoden, Akita, 010-0005

Hokke-ji Temple

Address: 3−34 Higashidorimyoden, Akita 010-0005

Phone: 018-834-6039