Virtual Kubota Castle Town 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #13 Jizo-do Hall

 

     It is unknown when and where Jizo-do Hall was founded in Kubota Castle Town.  Jizo means Ksitigarbha.

     The Asahi River used to run east of Kubota Castle Ruins.  When the castle was built, the river was redirected to the west of the castle.  Between the castle and the new river, samurai towns were developed.  In the west of the new river, traders and artisans lived near where Asahi River merges into Omono River.  The area is called Kyokunan.  Kyoku means Asashi and Nan means South.  In the north of the Kyokunan area, temple towns were developed so that they could function as the western defence line of the castle.  The Kubota Castle Town 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #12 Seigan-ji Temple is located at the northern end of the Kyokunan area.  The #14 Daihi-ji Temple is located at the southern end of Kyokuhoku, or Asahi North, area.  The #13 Jizo-do Hall could have been located somewhere between or around the #12 and #14 temples.

     It is unknown when and why the Ksitigarbha image and its hall was moved to the Kubota Castle Town 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #21 Fuden-ji Temple. 

     On March 23rd, 1650, a fire broke out in the east of Asahi River and spread upward to Chamachi (Chamachi-dori Omachi, Akita, 010-0921), Torimachi (Omachi, Akita, 010-0921), and Hodono Ashigarumachi (Hodonotorimachi, Akita, 010-0912), and southward to Juninshumachi (6 Chome Omachi, Akita, 010-0921), and Teppomachi (1-chome-13 Kyokunan, Akita, 010-0925), destroying over 2,000 houses.

     Another big fire broke out at around 4:00 p.m. on April 28th, 1674, at the home of Hiroshimaya Nizaemon in the west of Asahi River, and by the time the fire was extinguished at around 2:00 p.m. the following day, the 29th, the area burned had reached 31 blocks, causing the loss of 1,960 houses, 45 storehouses, and 4 temple buildings.

     The fire, which broke out on April 6th, 1730 , also caused extensive damage.

     Yonemachi 4-cho and Shamukoji, Kamitorimachi (Hodonotorimachi, Akita, 010-0912), Nakadori-cho, and Daikumachi (1 Chome Omachi, Akita, 010-0921, and Hodonotorimachi, Akita, 010-0912) were completly burned down.  The fire spread over a wide area of ​​29 blocks, including Kawabata 1-chome to 5-chome, Omachi 1-chome to 5-chome (Omachi, Akita, 010-0921), Kamisakana-cho, Chamachi Kikuno-cho (2 Chome Omachi, Akita, 010-0921), Ogi-no-cho (3 Chome Omachi, Akita, 010-0921), Umeno-cho (4 Chome Omachi, Akita, 010-0921), Toshimamachi (5 Chome Omachi, Akita, 010-0921), Kamigame-cho (1 Chome Omachi, Akita, 010-0921), Shimogame-cho (2 Chome Omachi, Akita, 010-0921), Tanakamachi (3 Chome Omachi, Akita, 010-0921), Yanagi-cho (4 Chome Omachi, Akita, 010-0921), and Yokamachi (5 Chome Omachi, Akita, 010-0921).  1,017 to 1,110 houses and 945 rented houses were destroyed in the fire.  84 storehouses were destroyed, including 11 sake storehouses, 5 pawn storehouses, 23 rice and soybean storehouses, and 45 storehouses for household goods and commerce.  In addition, 3 to 5 temples, including Tofuku-ji Temple in Teramachi, 1 gun maker house, and 4 foot soldiers' houses were burned down.  It is also recorded that 9,936 bales of rice, soybeans, and adzuki beans were burned down.

     From the beginning of construction, the roads of Kubota Castle Town in the east of Asahi River were narrow to block the smooth move of their enemies.  However, when the castle was rebuilt after the great fire in April, 1674, the roads were widened to prevent the fire spreading across streets, and the width of the main street was about 9 meters.

     Then, during the reconstruction after the great fire in April, 1730, the road width in the castle town was widened again as another fire prevention measure.  In Torimachi, in addition to fire prevention measures, wood paneled roofs were replaced with thatched ones, and the eaves would have been deeper if the shingled roofs had been replaced with thatched ones, and the roads width was widened by about 0.9 meter on each side to about 10.5 meters as thatched roofs required more space and made the width about 8.7 meters.  In Daikumachi, the road width on the main street was widened by about 1.2 meter to about 9.8 meters, and in Omachi 3-chome, the road width on the main street was widened by about 1.8 meter to about 10.4 meters, and the alley in Omachi 2-chome was also widened by about 1.8 meter to about 5.6 meters.

     Another big fire broke out in 1767.  It burned down 1,800 houses in the castle town.  In 1766, 559 houses were burned down.  In March 1783, a big fire in the castle town burned down 1,956 houses.

     Jizo-do Hall could have been moved to Fuden-ji Temple after one of the 6 fires.

Kubota Castle Ruins

Address: 1-4 Senshukoen, Akita, 010-0876

Fuden-ji Temple

Address: 4 Chome-5-37 Omachi, Akita, 010-0921

Phone: 018-862-8921

Tofuku-ji Temple

Address: 7-42 Kyokuhokusakaemachi, Akita, 010-0922

Phone: 018-862-5424