Virtual Kubota Castle Town 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #20 Tosho-in Temple

 

     According to the map published in 1742, Tosho-in Temple was next to Honsei-ji Temple in the south.  It also appears in the map 1901.  We can't find it in the map 1916.  Presumably, it was destroyed in the Tawaraya Fire in 1886 and was abolished.

     Tawaraya Fire broke out around 23:10, April 30th, 1886, between the houses of Tahara Kichinosuke and Kametani Tokichi in Kawabata Yon-chome (near today's Yonchome Bridge in 5-chome-1 Omachi, Akita, 010-0921).  As Kichinosuke was called Tawaraya, the fire was named Tawaraya Fire.  The fire is supposed to have occurred due to careless handling of a votive light in the household Shinto altar.  At the time when the fire broke out, the southeast winds blew with a speed of 21.8 meters per second.

     Fanned by the strong winds, the fire spread to north-west, north, and west.  It burned 46 percent of the downtown and working-class neighborhoods of the castle town in the west of Asahi River and even spread to Yahase Village (today's Yabase, Akita, 010-0975) and Terauchi Village (Terauchi, Akita, 011-0901), which were located in the north-west of the castle town.

     In the meantime, another fire broke out at a row house of low-ranking samurai in Minamidorikamenocho, Akita, 010-0011, along the east bank of Asahi River.  Fanned by the south-east strong winds, it spread to the west bank of Asahi River but not to the samurai town itself.  The house was inhabited by Okamoto Masaru.

     The fire was put out at 7 in the morning on May 1st.  The damage done by the fire was as follows:

     3,554 houses were burned down.  The burned down institutions were 19 Shinto shrines, 61 Buddhist temples, 1 elementary school, 1 telegraph station, 1 post office, 2 banks, 5 municipal offices, 3 offices, 1 police box, 2 theatres, 205 mud-walled storehouses, 82 wood-paneled storehouses, and 57 utility poles.  17 people were killed, and 186 were injured.

     On the night of the 2nd, 1,096 were shelterd in Akita Teachers College (1-1 Tegatagakuenmachi, Akita, 010-8502), 162 in Kyokunan Elementary School (1 Chome-15-1 Kyokunan, Akita, 010-0925), 191 in Hodono Elementary School (9-60 Hodonosuwacho, Akita, 010-0911), 26 in Meitoku Elementary School (9-60 Hodonosuwacho, Akita, 010-0911), 200 in Habase Daiichi Kangyojo (Yabase, Akita, 010-0975), 122 in Gochome Warehouse (5-chome-3 Nakadori, Akita, 010-0001), 158 in Hachiman-Akita Shrine (1-8 Senshukoen, Akita, 010-0876), 45 in Shomeisha Shrine in Shimo-Nagamachi (5 Chome Nakadori, Akita, 010-0001), and 8 in Minami-Akita District Office (1 Chome Nakadori, Akita, 010-0001).

Cooked rice was distributed to over 2,500 people.

     For your information, Kangyojo or Kangyoba was a predecessor or a prototype of a department store in Japan.  It was an aggregation of retail stores.  Kangyo meant sales promotion.

     The Meiji Restoration Government promoted a policy of encouraging new industry under the slogan "Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Armed Forces".  Organizing Kangyojo or Kangyoba in provincial cities such as Akita was a part of the policy and they were a kind of miniatures of the National Industrial Exhibitions, which were held in 1877, 1881, 1890, 1895, and 1903.

     Anyway, Tosho-in Temple could have been located somewhere between 3 Kyokuhokuteramachi, Akita, 010-0924, and 4 Kyokuhokuteramachi Akita, 010-0924, in today's map.

     In front of the temple gate of the Kubota Castle Town 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #21 Fuden-ji Temple, the stone Avalokitesvara image numbered 20 stands.

Honsei-ji Temple

Address: 3-3 Kyokuhokuteramachi, Akita, 010-0924

Phone: 018-824-4583