Virtual North Settsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #9 Muni-ji Temple

 

     Togaku-ji Temple was founded by Gyoki (668-749) in Furue Village, Teshima County, Settsu Province.  Teshima County was listed in the Engishiki, which is a book about laws and customs, and whose major part was completed in 927.  Furue Village was first documented in 1042.

     Izumi Shikibu (978-?) married Fujiwara Yasumasa (958-1036) in 1013.  He was appointed to be the governors of Yamato, Tango, Yamato, and Settsu Provinces in chronological order.  When he worked for the Settsu Provincial government, he lived near Togaku-ji Temple.  The government office is supposed to have moved frequently, but is supposed to have been located in Teshima County at least in 825.  In 844, the office was moved to today's Osaka.

     According to the Illustrated Guides of Settsu, which was published in 1798, the temple has a grave of Izumi Shikibu.

     One autumn night, when Yasumasa was about to go hunting, Izumi Shikibu heard a deer crying.  She composed a tanka poem to him:

Why on earth does a deer cry?

Because it feels

Tonight is its last night.

Yasumasa was moved by the poem and gave up hunting from then on.

     Togaku-ji Temple was burned down in 1184, when the Minamoto Clan fought against the Taira Clan at the end of the ancient times.

     In 1562, Muni-ji Temple was founded by Priest Donsei on the site of Togaku-ji Temple.

Address: 387 Furuecho, Ikeda, Osaka 563-0015

Phone: 072-751-8542