Virtual Kako County Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #2 Choden-ji Temple

 

     The exact origins of Choden-ji Temple, the second station of the Kako County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, remain shrouded in mystery. It is said that a figure named Nagata Kusuhi once enshrined Sentai Jizo (A Thousand Ksitigarbha Statues) here, though the date and the administrative state of Kako County at that time are unknown. The name "Kusuhi" itself carries an ancient, pre-medieval resonance.

     The name "Nagata" likely originated from the phonetical Manyogana characters (such as 奈賀多) in antiquity. It is highly probable that the local place-name "Nagata" came first, and a local ruling family—perhaps minor officials of the Kako district government—adopted it as their clan name. Around the 8th century, as the imperial court encouraged the use of auspicious two-character kanji for place-names, the characters 長田 (meaning "long rice fields") were assigned to the area.

     Therefore, the village was not named after the temple; rather, the place-name "Nagata" (長田) almost certainly preceded the temple. When the temple was later founded in Nagata Village, it adopted the same kanji characters (長田) but was read in the elegant, Sino-Japanese phonetic style as "Choden-ji." Although the village itself first explicitly appears in the Keicho Zue (the Keicho Era Map) of 1611, its linguistic and administrative roots reach back to the ancient ritsuryo period.

     While "Sentai Jizo" literally translates to "a thousand," the term often refers to any large assembly of Jizo statues rather than an exact count—a famous example being the one at Daitoku-ji Temple in Kyoto.

     Tradition holds that the temple was built on the former site of the Onoe Fortified Residence (Onoe-gamae), the ancestral seat of the Onoe family. However, historical records differ regarding the identity of its lord:

     According to the Harima Kagami (1762): The lord of Nagata Manor was Onoe Tanba-no-kami, a retainer of the Bessho clan. He is remembered as a heroic figure during the Siege of Miki (1578), though it remains ambiguous whether he fought for the Bessho or the invading Oda forces.

     According to the Record of the Exchange of Castles in Harima: The residence was held by Kako Eisai, said to be the youngest grandson of Akamatsu Ujinori (1330–1386). The name "Eisai" suggests he may have been a monk-warrior or held a Buddhist title.

     According to the Nihon Jokaku Taikei (Compendium of Japanese Castles): During the Kakitsu era (1441–1444), the lord was Murakami Hyozaemon, a retainer of the Yamana clan. This aligns with the aftermath of the Kakitsu Rebellion (1441), when the Akamatsu clan was temporarily ousted and the Yamana took control of Harima Province.

     Other records mention Kako Yukimune (?-1542) as a possible lord. This overlapping of names and lineages reflects the turbulent and complex history of the Kako region after the Southern and Northern Courts Period (1336-1392) and throughout the Warring States Period (1467-1568).

Address: Nagata-502 Onoecho, Kakogawa, Hyogo 675-0024

Phone: 079-421-7227

Daitoku-ji Temple

Address: 53 Murasakino Daitokujicho, Kita Ward, Kyoto, 603-8231

Phone: 075-491-0019