Virtual Sakai 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #28 Hogo-san Hiden-in Kitajuman-ji Temple

 

     Monk Onkei copied the Amitabha Sutra.  It is unknown how he counted the sutra, but, according to him, the sutra had 100,000 volumes.  100,000 is juman in Japanese, and he was called Juman-shonin, or Monk Juman.  When he founded a temple in 1490, the temple was called Juman-ji Temple, which was originally located along the beach of Yanaginocho Township (today's 2 Chome Yanaginochonishi, Sakai Ward, Sakai, Osaka 590-0930), Sakai Town, Izumi Province.  The temple was approved by Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado (1442-1500), who gave the temple the name plate Hiden-in in 1501.

     Why was Kita-Juman-ji Temple given the name Hiden-in?

     Usually, Hiden-in is supposed to be the Buddhist temple in Kyoto.  Originally, Hiden-in were facilities established to help the poor and orphans based on the Buddhist concept of compassion.

     Tradition has it that the first Hiden-in in Japan was established by Prince Shotoku (574-622) as one of the 4 houses at Shitenno-ji Temple in Osaka, following the example of the Sui Dynasty in China.  The 4 houses were Hiden-in, Keiden-in, Seyaku-in, and Ryobyo-in Houses.

     According to the Fuso Ryakuki, a Japanese historical text compiled at the end of the 12th century by Priest Koen (1074-1169), Empress Komyo (701-760), then Crown Princess, established Seyaku-in and Hiden-in Houses at Kofuku-ji Temple in 723.

     During the Heian Period (794-1185), Seyaku-in and Hiden-in Houses were established in the east and west of Heian-kyo Capital, and were placed under the management of the Hidenin and Seyakuin Bureaus, which were also established by Empress Komyo as part of the Imperial Household Agency.

     During the Kamakura Period (1185-1333), Ninsho (1217-1303), who founded 83 temples,  established 5 Hiden-in-like houses and gave 33,000 items of clothing to medieval outcasts.  The houses subsequently became bases for medieval outcasts.

     Hiden-in Temple, currently one of the sub-temples of Senn’yu-ji Temple in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto City, is said to be the successor of the Hiden-in Houses of Heian-kyo Capital.  The place name Hiden-in-cho remains as Hidenincho, Tennoji Ward, Osaka, 543-0055.  Hiden-in-cho is near JR and subway Tennoji Stations, located at the southern end of Tennoji Ward, Osaka City, where Shitenno-ji Temple is located.

     The fact that Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado (1442-1500) gave Kita-Juman-ji Temple the name plate Hiden-in might have shown that the Imperial Court approved Juman-ji Temple as one of Hiden-in Houses.

     Sakai Town was burned in 1615 in the Siege of Osaka, and Juman-ji Temple was revived later, divided into 2: Kita-Juman-ji Temple, namely North Juman-ji Temple; and Minami-Juman-ji Temple, namely South Juman-ji Temple.  As Emperor Go-Mizuno (1596-1680) presented Kita-juman-ji Temple the name plate Kitajuman, Juman-ji Temple should have been divided before 1680.  Anyway, Kita-Juman-ji Temple became an official Buddhism temple under the Tokugawa Shogunate, approved by the Imperial Court.  Later, Kita-juman-ji Temple became Hiden-in Temple, and Minami-Juman-ji Temple became Chosen-ji Temple.

     Onkei had pity on wifeless old men, husbandless old women, orphans, and childless old people.  He housed them within the temple precincts.  Their descendants continued to live within the precincts, but in 1811 they were forced to move north outside the precincts of Kita-Juman-ji Temple to the west of Inari-sha Shrine, and the place was called Juman Nagaya, or Juman Row House.

     The Juman Row House was first located in today's 2 Chome Nishikinochonishi, Sakai Ward, Sakai, Osaka 590-0931, and it was moved to today's Kitahanchohigashi, Sakai Ward, Sakai, Osaka 590-0922, as Juman-ji Temple was relocated.  It was originally a tenement house built by Monk Juman, the founder of Juman-ji Temple, on a 180 square meters plot of land within the precincts to house poor and lonely people.  The tenement house is marked as a rented house for outcasts on the Sakai Dai-ezu, namely the Sakai Grand Map, published in 1620 and is located north of the Kitajuman-ji Temple precincts.

Address: 2 Chome-2-8 Nishikinochohigashi, Sakai Ward, Sakai, Osaka 590-0932

Phone: 072-232-0794

Takasu Shrine

Address: 2-chome-1 Kitahatagochōhigashi, Sakai Ward, Sakai, Osaka 590-0923

Phone: 072-232-5164