Virtual Upper Tada Manor 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #23 Rihon-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when Rihon-ji Temple was founded in Akotani Village.

     Yamadaya Daisuke (1790-1837) was an uprising leader in the late Edo Period (1603-1868).

     He was from Yamada Village, Nose County, Settsu Province.  He later moved to Osaka and ran a drug store in Nishiyokobori Saito-cho (today's 1 Chome Edobori, Nishi Ward, Osaka, 550-0002), which was just west to Doshomachi (today's Doshomachi, Chuo Ward, Osaka, 541-0045), which was known as a medicine wholesaler town, and which still has 150 pharmaceutical companies and drugmakers.

     During the Edo Period, drug wholesalers who handled all imported drugs from China and the Netherlands opened their stores in Dosho-machi and formed the "Yakushu Chukai Nakama" (Drug Wholesalers Association), an association approved by the Tokugawa Shogunate.  In 1721, the Wa-yakushu-Kai-sho (Japanese Drugs Examination Association) was established to inspect drugs produced in Japan   Drugs sold in Japan were first collected in Dosho-machi, where their quality and weight were guaranteed before being distributed nationwide.  As a result, Dosho-machi Street has a large number of offices of pharmaceutical companies and drug companies.  Takeda Pharmaceutical, Shionogi & Co., Kaigen Pharma, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, Tamura Pharmaceutical, Sumitomo Pharma, Fuso Pharmaceutical, and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma have their headquarters along the street.  Some drug wholesalers, such as Konishi, have branched out into chemical products rather than pharmaceuticals in the narrow sense.  The accumulation of pharmaceutical, drug, and drug-related chemical companies has attracted many foreign pharmaceutical companies to Osaka and Hyogo Prefectures, including Bayer (Kita-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture), AstraZeneca (Kita-ku, Osaka City), P&G (Chuo-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture), and Eli Lilly (Chuo-ku, Kobe City).

     People worshipped Shennong, the Chinese god of medicine at first.  In 1780, they invited Sukunabikona from Kyoto as the god of medicine.  Since then, the locals have worshipped both.

     Daisuke also taught martial arts.

     The Great Tempo Famine hit Japan from 1833 to 1837.  In 1833, the estimated population of Japan was 3.198 million, while that in 1838 shrank to 3,073 million. Farmers in Daisuke's hometown suffered from the famine.  In Osaka, with 150 to 200 people dying every day, Oshio Heihachiro (1793-1837) revolted against the Tokugawa Shogunate in February, 1837.  Influenced by the Oshio Heihachiro Rebellion, Daisuke and several of his comrades staged an uprising on July 3rd of that year in Imanishi Village, Nose County (today's Imanishi, Nose, Toyono District, Osaka 563-0361), demanding equal distribution of rice and the issuance of a decree of amnesty.  The uprising was called Nose Uprising or Nose Disturbance, and over 1,000 farmers gathered.

     The rebels initially headed for Kyoto, but after being detected by the shogunate, they headed west via Nakayama Pass, and then presumably through Akotani Village.  From Sasori Village (today's Kamisasori, Takarazuka, Hyogo 669-1202, and Shimosasori, Takarazuka, Hyogo 669-1203), they reached Kouzuki Village (today's Kouzuki, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1412) on the 5th.  They fled to Kofuku-ji Temple.  As his comrades fell one after another under artillery fire by the Sanda Domain samurai, Daisuke committed seppuku suicide at the age of 48.

Address: 11-1 Myoshogatani, Kamiakotani, Inagawa, Kawabe District, Hyogo 666-0231

Kofuku-ji Temple

Address: 207 Kouzuki, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1412

Phone: 079-569-0093

Sukunahikona Shrine

Address: 2 Chome-1-8 Doshomachi, Chuo Ward, Osaka, 541-0045

Phone: 06-6231-6958