Virtual Kubota Castle Town 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #19 Hosho-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when Hosho-ji Temple was founded.  It is also unknown whether it is located in its original place or it has moved from somewhere else when Kubota Castle Town was developed.

     It precincts have the stone monument inscribed with a tanka poem of Eto Michisada　(1849-1921):

After the rain,

The orange blossoms are moist

Little cuckoos sing tearfully.

     Michisada was from a literary family with a lineage of scholars of Chinese classics and Japanese poetry.  He was an educator and a doctor with his talent in tanka poetry.  His grandfather was a scholar of Japanese classics who served the Odate-Satake Family, and his father was a poet.  He was born in Odate City.  His childhood name was Saisuke.  Influenced and mentored by his grandfather and father, he became familiar with Chinese classics and historical texts from young.  He entered Meitokukan at the age of 20, studying medicine under Sato Tatsugen.  3 years later, he returned to Odate and became a doctor.

     Michisada was a popular doctor, but with the promulgation of the School Act in 1872, he became a teacher, placing importance on education for the new era.  He taught at elementary schools in Kitaakita and Yamamoto.  He studied under Suzuki Shigetane (1812-1863), who came to Akita in the 1860's.  After Shigetane's death, Michisada moved to Tokyo and studied under Sasaki Hirotsuna (1828-1891).  Michisda made friends with poets such as Kume Motofumi (1828-1894), Fukuba Bisei (1831-1907), Ito Sukenobu (1834-1889), and Norioka Masatane.  After returning to his hometown, he taught the next generation of poets Japanese language and tanka poetry.  It is said that he had several hundred students by the end of his life.

     After retiring from teaching, Michisada moved to Akita City in 1912 and opened a clinic again.  He treated patients even in Minamiakita and Kawabe Counties.  During this time, he taught how to compose poetry at poetry gatherings not only in Akita City but also in Odate and Shakanai monthly.  He was a well-read person with a good memory.  He was especially familiar with the Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves and the Collection of Japanese Poems of Ancient and Modern Times.  He was renowned for his considerate instruction.

     Michisada always dressed plainly, loved alcohol, and spent most of his income on drinking with friends and juniors.  He didn't pursue a profit, and did not mind poverty.  In his later years, with the help of some of his disciples, he founded the Shujo Ginsha, the predecessor of the Yatsukaho Association, in Hodono Kanasacho, Akita City, and taught waka poetry. He died of illness at the age of 73. His posthumous name was Jishoin Chodo Ryogin Koji, and he was a teacher at Hosho-ji Temple in Hodonokanasamachi, Akita, 010-0902.

     The Memorial Collection of Professor Eto Michisada was published in August, 1931.  It had a brief biography, as well as memorial poems of his disciples such as Hikage Chuta, Moroi Masaaki, Fukami Sadaharu, Hayasaka Setsuko, and Inami Haruyuki.  It also contains 3 tanka poems by Michisada, and a memorial poem by Hayasaka Yukichi.

     For your information, Hikage Chuta composed the school anthem of Shakanai Elementary School:

Sozendai is like an ancient capital.

Thick Japanese-cedar pillars stand

In a modern school.

Its homely teachings are a blessing

Students who gather together morning and evening!

Do not forget the blessings of this world.

     The collected tanka poems of Hayasaka Setsuko, Ura-no Mokuzu, or namely Seaweeds in the Inlet, was published in 1937. 

     Fukami Sadaharu was a doctor.

     When the collected poems of Kano Kyoho (1832-1925) was published in 1909, it was proofread by Hayasaka Yukichi.

Address: 5 Chome-7-54 Omachi, Akita, 010-0921

Phone: 018-823-2874

Shakanai Elemantary School

Address: Sozendai-24 Shakanai, Odate, Akita 017-0012

Phone: 0186-48-2934