Virtual Kubota Castle Town 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #15 Myogaku-ji Temple

 

     Myogaku-ji Temple was was founded somewhere around Takashimizu Park, which has Akita Castle Ruins, in 1283 under the order of Minamoto Koreyasu (1264-1326), who reigned from 1266 to 1289 as the 7th Shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate.  The temple was abolished in 1556, and was revived in 1591, converted from Tiantai School to Caodong Chan School.  When Kubota Castle was built at the beginning of the Edo Period, the temple was moved to its present place in 1622.

     The area where Akita Castle Ruins are located used to be called Takashimizu-no-oka, namely Height Spring Hill.  The height has 27 points where spring water gushes out: 5 ponds, 3 sources of streams, 3 springs, and 4 wells.  It isn't cleared yet where the waters come from.  Tradition says that they come from Mount Taihei, a holy mountain.

     Mount Taihei used to be called Oidara.  Some suggest the name had something to do with Daidarabocchi.  Mount Oidara was recognized as a holy place in 673, 35 years before Ideha Fortress was built in the estuary of Mogami River.  In 733, Ideha Fortress was relocated north, or advanced, to Akita at the estuary of Omono River at about 100 kilometers from its original place.   Mount Oidara was amalgamated into Shinto and Miyoshi Shrine was built in 801, 3 years before Akita County was established.  Mount Taihei was a religious brand name.  In the latter half of the 10th century, the Akita Castle ceased functioning as an ancient government office.  Even the buildings in Terauchiunoki, which are supposed to have been Buddhist temples, disappeared after the first half of the 11th century.  Why did Koreyasu choose the site of the ancient castle as the precincts of his new Buddhist temple?

     Ezo Kanrei, or Ezo Deputy, is a post that is believed to have been in charge of all Ezo-related officials during the Kamakura Period. The term Ezo Kanrei is a name that has appeared since the Northern and Southern Courts Period, and, in the Kamakura period, it was called Ezo Satashiki, or Ezo Matter Oficer, and Ezo Daikan, or Ezo Administrator.

     Ezo, today's Hokkaido, had been a place of exile for serious criminals since the early days of the Kamakura Shogunate, and the main role of the Ezo Kanrei was said to be to send exiles to prison and to monitor them.  It is also believed that they were involved in trade with the northern foreigners in Hokkaido.

     It is said that the position began in 1217, when Hojo Yoshitoki (1163-1224), the 2nd Regent of the Kamakura Shogunate, became the Guardian Samurai of Mutsu Province.  He appointed Ando Takahide as Ezo Satashiki or Ezo Daikan, but the details are unknown.

     Ezo Satashiki or Ezo Daikan was hereditary in the Ando Family, and the government office was located in Tosa Port in Tsugaru Province about 100 kilometers north from the Akita Castle.  Various historical documents indicate that the Ando Family was placed there as deputies for the head family of Hojo Clan, so it is presumed that it was actually a position not of the Kamakura Shogunate but of the head family, and that the Ando Family, commissioned by the Hojo Clan, collected taxes on the profits from trading ships and paid them over to the head family.

     Was it Hojo Tokimune (1251-1284), the 8th Regent of the Kamakura Shogunate, that actually founded Myogaku-ji Temple presumably as the office to control the Ando Family, or the Ando Pirates, in the north?  Or did the Ando Pirates establish it for the shogun to make it their local agency in the south?  The Ando Pirates built Minato Fortress about 2 kilometers north of Akita Castle in the 14th century at the latest.

Address: 4-45 Kyokuhokuteramachi, Akita, 010-0924

Phone: 018-862-2968

Takashimizu Park

Address: 8 Terauchiunoki, Akita, 011-0938

Phone: 018-845-1837

Akita Castle Ruins

Address: 5 Terauchiohata, Akita, 011-0939

Phone: 018-845-1837

Mount Taihei

Address: Nibetsu, Akita, 010-0824

Ruins of Tosaminato

Address: Furunakamichi-61 Jusan, Goshogawara, Aomori 037-0403

Phone: 0173-35-2111