Virtual North Settsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #22 Jofuku-ji Temple

 

     It isn't certain when Jofuku-ji Temple was founded by Priest Kaizen in Koda Village, Teshima County, Settsu Province.  The temple's main deity, the Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha statue, is supposed to have been carved sometime between 859 and 877.  The statue is about 160 centimeters tall

     On July 8th, 868, the Yamasaki Fault, which runs from Mimasaka City, Okayama Prefecture, to Miki City, Hyogo Prefecture, caused the Harima Earthquake, which destroyed all the provincial and county offices in Harima Province and even partially destroyed some buildings in Kyoto.  The earthquake should have caused some damages in Settsu Province, but it is unknown whether the statue was carved after the earthquake or before. 

     Gozu was invited by Kaizen in 978 and was enshrined in Yasaka Shrine in May, 979, 110 years after the earthquake. 

     The Japanese word Gion comes from Jetavana, which was one of the 5 most famous Buddhist monasteries or viharas in India. The five are believed to have already existed while the Buddha still lived. Gion Shrine enshrines the guardian god of Jetavana, who was called Gozu in Japan. Gozu chose to be born as a son of Mudang as a part of the syncretism of Buddhism. The son had a bull head, and grew up to find no bride to get married with. One day, he set out on a journey to find a bride. In brief, at last, he got married to a daughter of Naga, who lived in the ocean. Gozu might have had the power to control water as a natural process.

     Gozu was first enshrined at Hiromine Shrine in today’s Himeji. He was invited to today’s Kyoto when the Kamo River flooded and plague spread, they wished for the healing and anti-flood power of Gozu. He was made the main deity of Gion Shrine, or Yasaka Shrine today, in Kyoto.  He was further invited to many parts of Japan, as we had many floods and epidemics, and he is enshrined in more than 2,300 shrines.

     As Koda Village was along the Ina River, the village could have been damaged by the flood caused by the earthquake or it was just developed from the latter half of the 9th century to the 10th century.  Anyway, the temple buildings were completed in 998.

     In the year, Emperor Ichijo (980-1011) was impressed with the temple's history and presented its name plate.  The temple's Acalanatha statue, most of which was caved out of one cherry tree, is also supposed to have been made in the year.

     Emperor Shirakawa (1053-1129) appointed Fujiwara Kagemasa to be the administrator of the Koda Manor, and Kagemasa revived the temple, which still has the ruin of Kagemasa's grave.

     In 1301, Hojo Sadatoki (1272-1311), the head of the head family of the Hojo Clan and the Regent of the Kamakura Shogunate, ordered Fujiwara Kiyohara and Kiyotada to rebuild the temple under the name of Emperor Go-Fushimi (1288–1336).  That might have meant either Kiyohara or Kiyotada was the samurai steward of the Koda Manor.  The oldest reclining Buddha picture is supposed to have been presented to the temple in those days.

     When Araki Murashige (1535-1586) was attacked by Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) in 1579, the temple was burned down.  Nobunaga seized the temple's rice fields but also confiscated the whole manor.  The priests and monks of the temple built 3 hermitages and kept the deities.

     When Ikeda Mitsushige (?-1628) ruled the village, he supported the revival of the temple.  The temple still keeps Mitsushige's letter dated March 17th, 1602.

     Due to the movement to abolish Buddhism and to destroy Buddhist images in the 19th century, the temple declined.  Kojun, who was the priest from 1903 to January, 1958, consolidated its branches, halls, and other buildings into what the temple is today.

     Jofuku-ji Temple is also the #20 member temple of the Settsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

Address: 3 Chome-11-2 Koda, Ikeda, Osaka 563-0043

Phone: 072-751-3940

Yasaka Shrine

Address: 4 Chome-7-1 Koda, Ikeda, Osaka 563-0043

Phone: 072-751-3790