Sakai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #8 Hase-dera Temple

 

      Hase-dera Temple was in the old part of Sakai.  There were streets in plaid.  One day, I drove from street to street, turning at a right angle.  The temple was at the corner of Shukuin Dori, one of the widest streets in Sakai, and a one-way street.

     You know Hase-dera Temple in Nara, don’t you?  It's very famous.  It was established in 727.  Emperor Shomu (701-756) is known for building a Kokubun-ji Temple in each province.  He had such strong faith in Buddhism that he built New Hase-dera Temples in provinces too.  The Hase-dera Temple in Sakai is said to have been built in 753 as the first one.  Although tradition says that Tokudo (656-?) founded the temple, the year 753 seems too late for him to found it.  It is recorded that he retired in Yamato Province in 735.

     The temple used to have a big main hall and 6 sub-temples in its precincts.  In the Medieval days, however, Sakai became an international port, and the temple had to give way to the commercial use of the land.  In 1945 during World War II, the bombing of Osaka burnt down the temple buildings.  The evacuation beforehand saved the deity from flames.  Today, a small ferroconcrete building stands as a relic of the golden age, with the Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha statue in it as the token of prosperity.

     The temple still keeps a copy of the Origin of Hasedera Temple.  The oldest copy, that is kept in the Tokugawa Art Museum, is said to have been made in the 14th century. The copy in Sakai is supposed to have been made in the 16th century, when Sakai Port flourished.

     Hase-dera Temple is also the #10 member temple of the Izumi 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

Address: 3 Chome-2-5 Shukuinchohigashi, Sakai Ward, Sakai, Osaka 590-0955

Phone: 072-232-6577

Hase-dera Temple

Address: 731-1 Hase, Sakurai, Nara 633-0112

Phone: 0744-47-7001

The Tokugawa Art Museum

Address: 1017 Tokugawacho, Higashi Ward, Nagoya, Aichi 461-0023

Phone: 052-935-6262