Virtual Kako County Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #21 Bussho-ji Temple

 

     Bussho-ji Temple was founded in Futago Village, Kako County, Harima Province, in 1312, when Akamatsu Norimura (1277-1350) was the Samurai Guardian of Harima Province.  The village was first documented in 1354.  As the village donated some money to Sumiyoshi Shrine in the document, it might have been part of Ae Manor, which was owned by the shrine.  Though the Kamakura Shogunate collapsed in 1333, when Bussho-ji Temple was founded, the surrounding areas should have been still stable.

     Bussho-ji Temple adjoins Futago-Sumiyoshi Shrine and Futago-kita Community Center.  Although the shrine was founded in 1686, as its name includes Sumiyoshi, the shrine and the temple could have been a center of the village.

     Construction of the San'yo Shinkansen between Shin-Osaka and Okayama was commenced on March 16, 1967 and the segment opened on March 15, 1972.

     As a result of the construction, the temple grounds and cemetery, which were originally one or adjacent, were divided north and south by the elevated Shinkansen tracks. The effects of this division and the remodeling of the grounds are still visible in the temple's layout today.  Standing in front of the main gate of Bussho-ji Temple, where the main hall should normally be visible, the elevated Shinkansen wall now looms directly in front of the gate. This is a remnant of the fact that the temple grounds and layout of some buildings had to be shifted to avoid the elevated tracks.

     The temple’s graveyard isn’t next to the temple.  Those graves could have been moved to their present place for the construction of the line.

Address: 9 Futago, Harima, Kako District, Hyogo 675-0162

Phone: 078-942-2479

Futago-Sumiyoshi Shrine

Address: 1 Futago, Harima, Kako District, Hyogo 675-0162

Phone: 079-435-2918

Futago-kita Community Center

Address:Tatetsuji 74, Futago, Harima, Kako District, Hyogo 675-0162

Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine

Address: 2 Chome-9-89 Sumiyoshi, Sumiyoshi Ward, Osaka, 558-0045

Phone: 06-6672-0753