Virtual Kawabe 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #23 Saiko-ji Temple

 

     Saiko-ji Temple was founded in 1574 in Gogaduka Village by Priest Kyuzen.  Gogaduka literally menas Five Mounds, and there used to be Mikage, Michi, Kakari, Nukume, and Yabure Mounds.  In 1549, Hosokawa Harumoto (1514-1563) built a fortress on Mikage Mound to attack Itami Castle, which was later remade as Arioka Castle.

     For your information, the Itami Family ruled the surrounding area, based in Itami Castle.  The family was first documented in 1309, during the Kamakura Period (1185-1333).  In the year, Itami Chikamori worked for the Deputy Guardian Samurai of Settsu Province.  In 1363, during the Southern and Northern Courts Period (1336-1392), Itami Saemonnojo was documented.  On June 4th, 1531, Itami Kunisuke was killed in battle, when Hosokawa Takakuni  (1484-1531), the 31st Deputy of Muromachi Shogunate and the 15th head of Kyocho-Hosokawa Family, was destroyed by Hosokawa Harumoto and Miyoshi Motonaga(1501-1532).  

     Takakuni replaced Ashikaga Yoshitane (1466-1523), the 10th Shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate, with the son of Ashikaga Yoshizumi (1480-1511), the 8th Shogun, Yoshiharu (1511-1550), the 11th Shogun, in 1521.  Takakuni was in his heyday.  Lights, however, are usually followed by shadows.  In July, 1526, Hosokawa Tadakata (?-1531), Takakuni’s cousin, fabricated the secret communication between Takakuni’s vassal, Kozai Motomori (?-1526), and Hosokawa Harumoto (1514-1563).  It wasn’t recorded what intention Tadakata had.  Motomori was said to be uncultured and uneducated.  Anyway, Takakuni just flew into a fury and had Motomori assassinated.  Motomori’s brothers, Hatano Motokiyo (?-1530) and Yanagimoto Kataharu (?-1530), got furious in turn.  They rebelled against Takakuni in their homeland, Tamba Province.  Motokiyo shut himself up in Yakami Castle and Kataharu in Kannosan Castle.  Takakuni was astonished and ordered Tadakata to siege Kannosan Castle.  He also dispatched Kawarabayashi Shurinosuke and Ikeda Danjo to Yakami Castle on October 23rd.  There were some skirmishes for several days.  On November 5th, Naito Kunisada (?-1553), the lord of Yagi Castle,who was sympathetic toward the brothers, withdrew from the encirclement of Kannosan Castle.  On November 30th, Akai Goro, the lord of Kuroi Castle, attacked the besiegement of Kannosan Castle and broke it.  Takakuni’s army raised the siege of the castles.  On their way back, Shurinosuke and Danjo had infighting.  Tadataka just ran away.  Takakuni’s rule exposed its vulnerability in half a year.

     The Miyoshi Family didn’t miss the good opportunity.  Miyoshi Masanaga (1508-1549) landed at Sakai and occupied Hori Fortress, which is supposed to have been located where Juso Park is, on an island in the Yodo River as early as on December 13th, as if they had had a secret communication with Motokiyo and Kataharu.

     After all the ups downs of himself and the decline of the Muromachi Shogunate, Takakuni went into exile in Iga, Ise, Echizen, Izumo, and Bizen Provinces.  Takakuni was supported by Uragami Muramune (1498-1531), who was based in Mitsuishi Castle in Bizen Province.  Takakuni and Muramune occupied Harima Province on July 27th, 1530, and seized Itami Castle by the end of February, 1531.  They occupied Kyoto on March 7th.  They advanced toward Sakai, Izumi Province, where Ashikaga Yoshitsuna (1511-1573), who was called a Sakai Shogun, lived and practiced a little bit of shogunate power.  A seesaw battle went on.  Akamatsu Harumasa (1495-1565), who was based in Okishio Castle, arrived at Kanno-ji Temple on June 2nd.  Harumasa was greeted by Takakuni and Muramune on the night.  On the 4th, Harumasa went over to the Sakai Shogunate side.  Takakuni and Muramune were attaacked by Harumasa from north and by the Sakai Shogunate army from south.

     Itami Kunisuke was killed in the battle.  Did he show loyalty to Takakuni?  I don't think so.  He was caught up in so-called dogfights.  Hosokawa Ryoke Ki, the Records of Two Hosokawa Families, which was written by Ikushima Sochiku, and which covers history from 1504 to 1570, "The river is so full of dead people that it looks like a mound.  People say that something like this never happens; not in the past, not now, and not in the future."  Kunisuke didn't want to miss a chance, became subject to Takakuni, was given Kuni, Takakuni's last half, to the first half of his name, and just thought he jumped on the bandwagon till his last moment.

     With his main vassals killed, Takakuni left the battlefield ln the confusion of the defeat.  He fled to Amagasaki.

     He tried to retreat to Daimotsu Castle, but the Akamatsu forces had already taken hold of it.  He fled to an indigo dyeing shop called Kyoya in Amagasaki and hid inside an indigo pot, laying the earthenware pot upside down.  He was captured by Miyoshi Kazuhide (?-1532) on June 5th.

     Searching for Takakuni in Amagasaki, Kazuhide prepared a lot of melons and told children playing nearby, "If you tell me where Takakuni is hiding, I'll give you all of these melons."  The children, eager to get the melons, found Takakuni's hiding place.

     At around 4 a.m. on the 8th of the same month, Takakuni committed suicide at Kotoku-ji Temple in Amagasaki at the age of 48.  His death tanka poem, which he sent to Kitabatake Harutomo (1503-1563), reads:

The sea and mountains I have depicted in paintings

And that I have carved into stones

I will watch them even after my death with my eyes open.

     Meanwhile, the defeated samurai of the Urakami Army were reportedly pursued by the Akamatsu Army as they were fleeing back to Harima Province through Namaseguchi (Namazecho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 669-1102), and were almost completely wiped out.

     Presumably, the Itami Family survived.

     In 1970, when the San'yo Shinkansen Line was constructed, the temple was moved slightly north to its present place.

Address: 3 Chome-11-5 Gogazuka, Itami, Hyogo 664-0855

Phone: 072-775-3385

Arioka Castle Ruins

Address: 1 Chome-12 Itami, Hyogo 664-0846

Phone: 072-784-8090