Virtual Kubota Castle Town 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #17 Zencho-ji Temple

 

     Zencho-ji Temple was founded in 1665 by Satake Yoshitaka (1609-1672), who was the 2nd lord of the Kubota Domain, and who was the 20th head of the Satake Family.   The temple belongs to Pure Land Buddhism.

     For your information, Yoshitaka was born in 1609 as the eldest son of Iwaki Sadataka (1583-1620), the 3rd son of Satake Yoshishige (1547-1612), who was the 18th head of the Satake Family.  On the death of his father in 1620, he became the lord of Shinano-Nakamura Domain.  In 1622, he was transferred to Yuri County, Dewa Province.  This was the beginning of Kameda Domain.  Yoshitaka was adopted as heir by his uncle, Satake Yoshinobu (1570-1633) of Kubota Domain, in April, 1626, following the disinheritance of Yoshinobu’s younger brother, Yoshinao (1612-1656), for incompetence.  Iwaki Yoshitaka became Satake Yoshitaka.  He turned Kameda Domain over to his uncle or Yoshinobu's younger brother, Yoshitaka (1584-1672), who became Iwaki Yoshitaka.  On Yoshinobu’s death on February 26th, 1633, Yoshitaka succeeded to the headship of the Satake Family.  He was permitted to formally enter the Kubota Domain for the first time on May 8th, 1633.  He died at Kubota Castle on December 5th, 1671.

     Yoshitaka could have founded a Pure Land Buddhism temple to show his and his domain's obedience and allegiance to Tokugawa Shogunate.  Pure Land Buddhism was the Tokugawa Clan's family religion.  The number of temples of Pure Land Buddhism, accordingly, increased in the Edo Period.  The top 5 Buddhist sects are #1 Caodong Chan School with 14,604 temples, #2 True Pure Land Buddhism Hongan-ji Sub-Sect with 10,473 temples, #3 True Pure Land Buddhism Otani Sub-Sect with 8,860 temples, #4 Pure Land Buddhism with 7,125 temples, and #5 Nichiren Buddhism with 5,011 temples.

     Zencho-ji Temple's graveyard has the grave of Hitomi Shou (1761-1804), who was a Japanese scholar of Japanese classics in the Edo Period, and who was a vassal of the Kubota Domain in Dewa Province.  He left behind a variety of books with past records and hearsay, and is particularly known for Kokuten Sago, a collection of essays compiling past records, hearsay, customs, and habits in the Kubota Domain.  It contains 539 stories.

Address: 6 Chome−6−3, Omachi, Akita 010-0921

Phone: 018-862-6276