Virtual Akashi 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #33 Gessho-ji Temple

 

     In 811, Kukai (774-835) founded Yoryu-ji Temple on Akamatsuyama Hill, where Akashi Castle was built centuries later.  In 887, Priest Kakusho of the temple enshrined the Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha statue which had been the personal guardian Buddhist image of Kakinomoto Hitomaro (662-710) and changed the name of the temple to Gessho-ji.  In 1574, the temple converted from Shingon Buddhism to Caodong Chan Buddhism.  In 1621, its precincts became part of Akashi Castle, and, in 1622, the new buildings of Gessho-ji Temple were completed at their current locations.  In 1744, the mountain's name was changed to Hitomaro-san after Kakinomoto Hitomaro, presumably to increase the number of its visitors.  In 1871, Hitomaro-sha Shrine was separated from Gessho-ji Temple due to the Gods and Buddhas Separation Order issued in 1868 and it was renamed Kakimoto-jinja Shrine.

     During the Edo Period (1603-1867), peace continued, the art of waka poetry flourished, and faith in Hitomaro grew.  In 1723, at the 1,000th anniversary of Hitomaro's death, Hitomaro-sha Shrine was granted the divine title of Shoichii Kakimoto Daimyojin.  Retired Emperor Reigen (1654-1732) donated large square cards of the Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry, of which Hitomaro was a member, Emperor Sakuramachi (1720-1750) donated a troupe of short registers (formerly a national treasure and important cultural property) and the strips of paper with his 50 tanka poems, and Empress Go-Sakuramachi (1740-1813) gave the strips of paper with her tanka poems.  Since then, literary figures and artists have continued to visit the temple, and the temple has also received many donations of calligraphy and paintings.  Most of them are preserved at the Akashi Municipal Cultural Museum.  In 1972, a grand celebration was held to mark the 1,250th anniversary of Hitomaro's death, with numerous tanka and haiku poems submitted from all over Japan.  In addition, many books were published, including The Gessho-ji Temple Legend, The Manyo People's View of Nature, and Basho's Haiku Theory.

     The temple’s Buddhist tanka poem is:

Namo Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha

Among Akashi Lagoon and the moonlit hills,

May the blessings of Hitomaro be profound.

Address: 1-29 Hitomarucho, Akashi, Hyogo 673-0877

Phone: 078-911-4947

Kakinomoto Shrine

Address: 1-26 Hitomarucho, Akashi, Hyogo 673-0877

Phone: 078-911-3930

Akashi Municipal Cultural Museum

Address: 2-chome-13-1 Uenomaru, Akashi, Hyogo 673-0846

Phone: 078-918-5400