Virtual Kubota Castle Town 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #32 Zenryo-ji Temple

 

     Zenryo-ji Temple was founded in 1654 by Shibue Takamitsu.

     Takamitsu was the 2nd son of Satake Yoshiaki (1601-1644), was adopted by Shibue Mitsuhisa, and became a chief retainer of the Kubota Domain.  Zenryo-ji Temple became the family temple of the Shibue Family.

     Mitsuhisa's father, Masamitsu (1574-1614), was a new recruite to Satake Family.  He was born in 1574 as the son of Arakawa Hidekage, a retainer of Koyama Hidetsuna (1529-1603) in Shimotsuke Province. In 1590, the Koyama Family resisted Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) and Masamitsu became masterless and jobless.  However, he was recommended by Hitomi Hidemichi (1565-1600), who saw potential in Masamitsu, and served Satake Yoshinobu (1570-1633).  At the age of 20, he inherited the Shibue Family, a senior retainer of the Satake Family, and changed his name from Arakawa Yagoro to Shibue Masamitsu.

     After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, the Satake Family was demoted to Akita, and Yoshinobu carried out reforms within the family, and in 1603, Masamitsu was selected as a chief retainer.  However, dissatisfaction grew among the old-time vassals over the promotion of newcomers including Masamitsu.  Chief retainer Kawai Tadato (?-1603) plotted to assassinate Yoshinobu and Masamitsu but was purged instead.  As a result, Masamitsu's promotion to chief retainer was postponed, and he was officially appointed in 1607.

     Masamitsu worked with Kajiwara Masakage (1548-1615) on the construction of Kubota Castle.  He also implemented reforms to the land survey system, and worked hard to stabilize agricultural production and the domain's finances.  These were called the Shibuedenho, or Shibue Rice Fields Laws, and are said to have been used as a reference for agricultural policies by other domains and even by the Tokugawa Shogunate.  He was also involved in forestry policy.  He is known to have said, "Mountains are the treasure of a domain.  When they are cut down, they are of no use.  Before they are exhausted, we must prepare.  The decline of the mountains is the decline of the domain."

     In 1614, he marched with his lord Yoshinobu to the Siege of Osaka, where they clashed against Goto Mototsugu (1560-1615) and Kimura Shigenari (?-1615) at Imafuku (today's Imafukunishi, Joto Ward, Osaka, 536-0004).  Masamitsu fought bravely to protect his lord, but was shot to death at the age of 41.

     The Kanshu-bochi is a memorial park originally with 523 graves of 665 war dead.  The youngest was 15 years old, and the oldest was 63.  The Ministry of Home Affairs provided a fixed repair cost annually.  Those who belonged to the Imperial Army and who were killed in the Boshin War in 1868.  Many of them were from the Kubota Domain and others belonged to the reinforcements from Satsuma, Hizen, Chikuzen, Shinjo Domains, and other domains.  Later, some of them were reburied by their surviving families in their hometowns.  Currently, the cemetery has 323 graves with 395 war dead.

     Ouchi Kaizan (?-1877), the 21st head priest of Zenryo-ji Temple, vowed to build graves for the war dead.  Tsuji Gennosuke and other stonemasons built them.  Kaizan and Gennosuke offered their own money.  It was in 1895 that the ministry started providing money.

Address: 6 Chome-5-30 Yabasehoncho, Akita, 010-0973

Phone: 018-862-3602