Virtual New Innami County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #21 Enpuku-ji Temple

 

     Enpuku-ji Temple's foundation date isn't so clear.

     Akamatsu Mitsusuke (1381-1441) donated a Buddhist chanting hall in 1397.  At the age of 8?  Presumably, someone else built the hall for him for some reason.  As the temple name is after Mitsusuke's posthumous Buddhist name, the hall could have been turned into a Buddhist temple after his death.

     Hosokawa Yoriyuki (1329-1992) was the Regent of the Ashikaga Shogunate (1336-1573) from 1366 mainly under Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408), who became the third Shogun in 1369 at the age of 11.  As he entered his adulthood, he wanted to decide and control everything by himself and for himself.

     As its precincts have Hokyoin Tower dated 1379, the place might have been a holy place or a graveyard before the construction of the hall.  Hokyoin Towers were made in stone in the Kamakura period (1185-1333).  It is also during this period that the towers started to be used as tombstones and cenotaphs.

     On February 29, 1379, Mitsusuke's father, Yoshinori (1358-1427), attacked Yoriyasu on Yoshimitsu's orders, and for this service, he was appointed head of the Samurai-dokoro, the Board of Retainers, in the same year.  A certain samurai might have died in fighting.  The death, however, was too early to be memorized with the hall.  What was the reason for the hall to be erected?

Address: Takahata Shikatacho, Kakogawa, Hyogo 675-0304

Phone: 079-452-1054

Enpuku-ji Temple Sarcophagus

Address: Takahata-544 Shikatacho, Kakogawa, Hyogo 675-0304

Enpuku-ji Temple Hokyoin Tower

Address: Takahata-544 Shikatacho, Kakogawa, Hyogo 675-0304