Trees In the Town

Virtual North Settsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #26 Saifuku-ji Temple

 

     Saifuku-in Temple was founded in the 9th century in Hatake Village, Teshima County, Settsu Province.  It was renamed Saifuku-ji after the Meiji Restoration.

Address: 3 Chome-13-11 Hata, Ikeda, Osaka 563-0021

Phone: 072-751-9876

Trees In the Town

Virtual North Settsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #25 Jisho-in Temple

 

     Josho-in Temple was founded in Shibutani Village, Teshima County, Settsu Province, in 1532, a year after Hosokawa Takakuni (1484-1531) was cornered to kill himself.  Takakuni was from the Yashu-Hosokawa Family, who were based in Bicchu Province, and looked for a chance to be the head of the Keicho-Hosokawa Family, the head family of the Hosokawa Clan.

     A chance came along with the form of a pinch for Takakuni.  The 10th Shogun, Yoshitane (1466-1523), lived in exile in Suo Province under Ouchi Yoshioki (1477-1529).  The assassination of Masamoto and the disorder in the aftermath seemed a chance for Yoshitane and Yoshioki. On November 25th, they left Suo Province.  In December, they reached Bingo Province, which lay just west to Bicchu Province, where Takakuni was based.  For those in Kyoto, the advance of Yoshitane and Yoshioki should have looked like a pinch.  Actually, Sumimoto dispatched Takakuni to negotiate with Yoshioki over peace.  Takakuni, however, saw a chance in the pinch.  On March 17th, 1508, Takakuni abruptly insisted that he should visit Ise Shrine to pray for peace, and he actually did visit Ise Province, counting on his cousin, Niki Takanaga, there.  Accordingly, the peace negotiations collapsed.  Takakuni got a consensus with powerful and influential local samurai around Kyoto, such as Itami Motosuke (?-1529), Naito Sadamasa (?-1525), Kagawa Mototsuna, and Kozai Kunitada, that Yoshitane should take over Yoshizumi's shogunate.  They entered Kyoto on April 9th.  Under their pressure, Sumimoto and Yukinaga escaped to Koga County again, and Yoshizumi fled to Omi Province.  They joined Yoshitane and Yoshioki, and seized power together.  Takakuni was appointed to be the head of the Keicho-Hosokawa Family.

     On April 27th, 1508, Ashikaga Yoshitane (1466-1523) and Ouchi Yoshioki (1477-1529) landed on Sakai, Izumi Province.  On May 5th, Yoshitane approved Hosokawa Takakuni to be the head of the Keicho-Hosokawa Family.  On June 8th, Yoshitane and Yoshioki entered Kyoto.  On July 1st, Yoshitane became the Shogun, and rewarded Yoshioki for his military contribution with the Sakai-Minami Manor in Izumi Province.  Then Yoshioki revealed his nature, or the Ouchi Clan's character.

     The Ouchi Clan was a kind of a transit trader.  They had benefited from importing advanced and sophisticated products from the continent and selling them to the Royal Families, aristocratic families, temples, and shrines.  As the head of the clan, Yoshioki wasn't interested in a manor around Kyoto or Sakai.  He returned the manor, which had been misappropriated by samurai, to the original owner, Sokoku-ji Temple.  That, despite Yoshioki's intentions, opened Pandora's box.  For example, Todai-ji Temple demanded Yoshioki to give back their original manor in Suo Province.  Yoshioki's "goodwill" was favored by temples but provoked dissatisfaction among his local samurai.

     In a seesaw battle against Miyoshi Yukinaga, Yoshioki fought rather advantageously for 4 years.  His efforts paid.  The Ashikaga Shogunate authorized him to trade with the Ming Dynasty.  The authorization didn't satisfy Yoshioki's local samurai at all, but provoked Takakuni's hostility toward Yoshioki.  The hostility led to the Nimbo Incident in 1523.

     In 1513, Yoshioki's dissatisfied samurai withdrew from the battlefront in Kyoto and revolted against him especially in Aki Province, which was located along the Seto Inland Sea between Suo Province and Kyoto.  The resistance meant the instability of the sea lane in the Seto Inland Sea.  In the same year, along the Sea of Japan, Amago Tsunehisa (1458-1541) started invading Yoshioki's territory to capture silver mines.  In 1518, Yoshioki returned to Suo Province, and died in 1528.  His son, Yoshitaka (1507-1551), was cornered by his vassal, Sue Harukata (1521-1555), and killed himself along with his family.  The Ouchi Clan collapsed.

     Let's get back to the Miyoshi Family.  Seesaw battles went on between the 2 camps, yet Yukinaga gradually lagged behind.  On August 27th, 1509, Yukinaga's 2 elder sons, Nagahide and Yorizumi, were cornered and committed suicxide.  On May 11th, 1520, Yukinaga and his 2 younger sons were killed.  Yukinaga was succeeded by Nagahide's eldest son, Motonaga (1501-1532).  On June 10th, 1520, Sumimoto died, and was succeeded by his first son, Harumoto (1514-1563).

     Motonaga learned a lesson from what Yoshioki achieved and what his grandfather, Yukinaga, couldn't achieve.  When you carry a portable shrine on your shoulders, the more beneficial the better.  The Shogun is more beneficial to carry than the head of the Keicho-Hosokawa Family.

     Hosokawa Takakuni (1484-1531) replaced Ashikaga Yoshitane (1466-1523) with the son of Ashikaga Yoshizumi (1480-1511), Yoshiharu (1511-1550), in 1521.  Takakuni was in his heyday.  Lights, however, are usually followed by shadows.  In July, 1526, Hosokawa Tadakata (?-1531), Takakuni’s cousin, fabricated the secret communication between Takakuni’s vassal, Kozai Motomori (?-1526), and Hosokawa Harumoto.  It wasn’t recorded what intention Tadakata had.  Motomori was said to be uncultured and uneducated.  Anyway, Takakuni just flew into a fury and had Motomori assassinated.  Motomori’s brothers, Hatano Motokiyo (?-1530) and Yanagimoto Kataharu (?-1530), got furious in turn.  They rebelled against Takakuni in their homeland, Tamba Province.  Motokiyo shut himself up in Yakami Castle and Kataharu in Kannosan Castle.  Takakuni was astonished and ordered Tadakata to siege Kannosan Castle.  He also dispatched Kawarabayashi Shurinosuke and Ikeda Danjo to Yakami Castle on October 23rd.  There were some skirmishes for several days.  On November 5th, Naito Kunisada (?-1553), the lord of Yagi Castle,who was sympathetic toward the brothers, withdrew from the encirclement of Kannosan Castle.  On November 30th, Akai Goro, the lord of Kuroi Castle, attacked the besiegement of Kannosan Castle and broke it.  Takakuni’s army raised the siege of the castles.  On their way back, Shurinosuke and Danjo had infighting.  Tadataka just ran away.  Takakuni’s rule exposed its vulnerability in half a year.

     The Miyoshi Family didn’t miss the good opportunity.  Miyoshi Masanaga (1508-1549) landed at Sakai and occupied Hori Fortress on an island in the Yodo River as early as on December 13th, as if they had had a secret communication with Motokiyo and Kataharu.

     Here, we should notice what the Ouchi Family and the Miyoshi Family had in common: they had good navies, or they had pirates under control, to carry out mobile operations across the sea.

     As early as at the turn of the 9th century, Ki Tsurayuki (866?-945?), who had been the governor of Tosa Province, was worried about pirates on his way back from Tosa Province to Kyoto.  As the first entry about pirates was on February 26, or the 21st day after his departure from Tosa Province and the last entry about pirates was dated March 7th, or the 30th day after the departure, it must have been Awa Pirates that he was afraid of.  In the first entry about pirates, Tsurayuki “remembered that the pirates had threatened to take revenge upon him, when once he had left the Province (=Tosa Province).”  In the last entry about pirates, after he passed Awa Province, he wrote, “Now that they had reached the Land of Izumi, there was no further question of pirates.”  The Hosokawa Family might have won over the pirates, sharing the profit from trading with China.  As a vassal of the family, the Miyoshi Family tamed Awa Pirates, and that was one of the reasons why the Miyoshi Family kept carrying their lord at least in name only.

     Hatano Hidetada, the son of Motokiyo (?-1530), took action against Hosokawa Takakuni (1484-1531).  He started going southward, and captured Noda Castle in Settsu Province on January 28th, 1527.  He advanced to Kyoto, crossed the border between Settsu and Yamashiro Provinces, and seized Yamazaki Castle across the border on February 4th.  On 11th, the Hatano and Miyoshi armies joined up in Yamazaki Castle on 11th, and confronted Takakuni’s army across the Katsura River estuary along Oguraike Lake on 12th. Takakuni’s logistic support was based in Sensho-ji Temple in the upper reaches of the Katsura River.  On 13th, the Miyoshi army made a surprise attack on Sensho-ji Temple and killed more than 80 garrison.  Takakuni had a sense of crisis, left his main force, and moved to the temple.  He lost 10 samurai on horses and 300 foot soldiers, and retreated.  The surprise attack succeeded, and Takakuni escaped from Kyoto to Sakamoto, Omi Province, with Ashikaga Yoshiharu (1511-1550), the 11th shogun.  Some shogunate officers and officials followed them, and the others just ran away.  The shogunate government was scrapped, vanished, or disappeared in effect.

     What the Miyoshi and Hatano armies could do was to keep public order, and they waited for Hosokawa Harumoto to come to Kyoto.

     Harumoto left Awa Province and came to Sakai with Ashikaga Yoshitsuna (1509-1573), who was the second son of Yoshizumi (1481-1511), the 11th shogun, in March.  For some reason, he stayed there.  In July, Yoshitsuna was given the same post by the Imperial Court as former shoguns had been given.  Aristocrats in Kyoto and local samurai around Kyoto flocked to Sakai in the expectation or anticipation for Yoshitsuna to become the next shogun.  Some officers who had followed Yoshizumi to Awa Province started to issue shogunate official documents.

     The Miyoshi army also invited Miyoshi Motonaga (1501-1532) as the head of the Miyoshi Family to Sakai, although he was still in his 20’s.  He soon exposed his immature and inexperienced political talent and skills.

     Against all the expectation or anticipation aristocrats in Kyoto and local samurai around Kyoto had for Ashikaga Yoshitsuna. A seesaw battle was going on between the 2 camps around Kyoto, and Yoshitsuna couldn’t enter Kyoto.  He was called a Sakai Shogun, while Yoshiharu was called an Omi Shogun.  The historical significance of a Sakai Shogunate is still debatable today.  Anyway, the Miyoshi family produced an officer of shogunate, and that itself was a great achievement for a local samurai from a province not so remote but “regional”.

     In January, 1528, Motonaga was trapped into having peace negotiations with Hosokawa Takakuni (1484-1531).  Their communication was leaked to Hatano Hidetada and Yanagimoto Kataharu (?-1530), who got furious at the communication with the killer of Kozai Motomori (?-1526), who was Hidetada’s uncle and Kataharu’s brother.  They complained to Hosokawa Harumoto, who refused to hear Motonaga’s excuse.  Takakuni retreated to Sakamoto, Omi Province, in May.  So, his “peace negotiations” with Motonaga was just buying time.

     In July, Motonaga imposed land taxes around Kyoto while he did nothing to occupy the city.  That irritated not only Hidetada and Kataharu but also Miyoshi Masanaga (1508-1549), who all actually fought to seize the city.  In August, 1529, Motonaga had to return to Awa Province, and it was Masanaga who headed the Miyoshi army.

      However immature and inexperienced he was, Motonaga was a good general and had his own army.  After his return to Awa Province, Takakuni rallied again.  Motonaga returned in 1531, and the seesaw battles continued till Takakuni was cornered to committ suicide at 4 a.m. on June 8th in the year.

      Genna Bakudo is said to have founded Josho-in Temple iby nominally inviting the 6th head priest of Taiko-ji Temple.

Address: 3 Chome-17-11 Shibutani, Ikeda, Osaka 563-0028

Phone: 072-752-5584

Taiko-ji Temple

Address: 2 Chome-5-16 Ayaha, Ikeda, Osaka 563-0051

Phone: 072-751-3433

Trees In the Town

Virtual North Settsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #24 Shaka-in Temple

 

     According to temple legend, Empress Okinagatarashi returned triumphantly from Baekje with the Buddha's relics, a Tarahobachi bowl.  Because Buddhism had not yet arrived in Japan, the relics were hidden in Hachizuka during the reign of Emperor Tarashinakatsu, fearing they would be scattered.  Later, Gyoki (668-749) had a spiritual dream in which he excavated the relics from the cave, and by imperial order of Emperor Shomu (701-756), he built a temple.  Gyoki also personally carved statues of Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha, Acalanatha, and Vaisravana, and enshrined the statues with the relics.  He named the temple Hattara-san Jakuo-ji Shaka-in, named the village Sonbachi.

     It is unknown whether the legend is believable or not.  First of all, Tarashinakatsu was Okinagatarashi's husband and died before she invaded the Korean Peninsula.  Second, it is unknown whether Shaka-in Temple was Jakuo-ji Temple itself or a branch of Jakuo-ji Temple.

     In a fire in 1573, the temple's buildings and treasures were destroyed.  In 1589, Priest Denyo rebuilt it.  In 1840, it was burned in fire, and was rebuilt in June, 1865, by Priests Sojo and Kanjo.

Address: 3 Chome-4-6 Hachizuka, Ikeda, Osaka 563-0024

Phone: 072-761-8761

Trees In the Town

Virtual North Settsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #23 Ichijo-in Temple

 

     It is unknown when Ichijo-in Temple was founded as a branch of Jakuo-ji Temple.  Ichijo-in Temple's jigo is Jakuo-ji.  I will talk about Jakuo-ji Temple more when I virtually visit the North Settsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #24 Jakuo-ji Shaka-in Temple.  As the temple's oldest Buddhist image, the standing statue of Uho Doji, who is a god of Shinbutsu-shugo, or the syncretism of Japanese gods and Buddhas, is supposed to have been made in the Kamakura Period (1185-1333), the temple could have been founded in those days.

     Many temples in Japan have jigo (namely temple name), and the others have ingo (namely cloister name).  Some of them even have sango (namely mountain name).  The most complicated name of a temple consists of the three names.  When a temple has 3 names, sango (mountain name) comes first, then either ingo (cloister name) or jigo (temple name) comes second (not necessarily ingo comes second, as is sometimes suggested), and then comes the rest.

     Sango comes from China.  Buddhism first reached China during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) as a foreign mysterious religion.  It was accepted by intellectuals during the Eastern Han Dynasty, connecting Wuwei concept (literally meaning inexertion, inaction, or effortless action) in Taoism with the concept of Sunyata (translated most often as emptiness, vacuity, and sometimes voidness) in Buddhism.  After the Six Dynasties (220-589), Buddhism flourished so much that they had many temples with the same name, as you may notice even in Japan today.  They came to put a place name before the name of a temple.  As Buddhist temples flourished, they accumulated wealth.  There were about 4,600 monasteries, 40,000 hermitages, 260,500 monks and nuns.  In 840’s, Emperor Wuzong (814-846) of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) initiated the Huichang Persecution of Buddhism to confiscate their properties.  In 846, the Emperor Wuzong died, and the persecution was over.  However, Buddhism never completely recovered except some Chan temples in mountains which stood aloof from the worldly businesses.  Under the Kamakura Shogunate, Japan imported Chan Buddhism with the custom to put a place name (= a mountain name) before a temple name.  The custom spread to other Buddhism sects and schools.

     Ingo literally means a cloister name.  The suffix “-in” was an honorific title.  After Emperor Saga (786-842) abdicated in 823, he was called Saga-in with respect.  That was the first example of using the suffix “-in” for a retired emperor.  Those days, a retired emperor meant a cloistered emperor.

     When Fujiwara Senshi (962-1002), the mother of Emperor Ichijo (980-1011), retired as an empress dowager, she was given an honorific title “-in” for the first time as a woman.  And then some royal family members were given the honorific title “-in”.  And then the temples where those with “-in” titles as the head priests came to be also called with the suffix “-in”.  That was the start of ingo (cloister names) for temples.

     As the ancient aristocracy collapsed, the naming custom spread to other ruling classes, such as samurais, and so did ingo for temples.  Many temples with ingo in the middle of the three, use it to show the high status of them.

     Meanwhile, the suffix “-in” also meant retirement, sub-temples for retired priests in the precincts of large temples came to be named with it.  And then the naming custom spread to other sub-temples and even branch temples.  Those temples put their ingo usually at the tail of the three.

     At first, Japan had only 46 temples.  In the Kamakura Period, there were over 13,000 temples.  In the Edo Period, the number exceeded 0.4 million.  In those days, -an, -sai, and -bo were also used as jigo.  An means a thatched-roofed hut.  Sai means a study.  Bo means a house for a monk.  After the Meiji Restoration, the number of temples decreased to about 70 thousand.

     Ichijo-in Temple's full name is Tara-san Jakuo-ji Ichijo-in.  Tradition has it that it was burned down by Oda Nobunaga  (1534-1582) in 1573.  In 1573, however, Nobunaga's army was still fighting in Kawachi Province.  In the year, however, Araki Murashige (1535-1586), who had been subject to Ikeda Tomomasa (?-1604), who had been against Nobunaga, overpowered Tamomasa by taking Nobunaga's side.  The temple could have been involved in battles between Murashige and Tomomasa.

     Ichijo-in Temple was revived by Priest Shuei in 1638.

     Chiyomaru, the surviving son of Ishida Mitsunari (1560-1600), was wrapped in Mitsunari's military flag, and was brought to this village by his remaining retainers and wet nurse.  In 1801, Yamatoya Hikobei, Chiyomaru's descendant, donated the flag to his family temple, Ichijo-in Temple.

Address: 2 Chome-7-26 Hachizuka, Ikeda, Osaka 563-0024

Phone: 072-761-8918

Trees In the Town

Virtual North Settsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #22 Jofuku-ji Temple

 

     It isn't certain when Jofuku-ji Temple was founded by Priest Kaizen in Koda Village, Teshima County, Settsu Province.  The temple's main deity, the Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha statue, is supposed to have been carved sometime between 859 and 877.  The statue is about 160 centimeters tall

     On July 8th, 868, the Yamasaki Fault, which runs from Mimasaka City, Okayama Prefecture, to Miki City, Hyogo Prefecture, caused the Harima Earthquake, which destroyed all the provincial and county offices in Harima Province and even partially destroyed some buildings in Kyoto.  The earthquake should have caused some damages in Settsu Province, but it is unknown whether the statue was carved after the earthquake or before. 

     Gozu was invited by Kaizen in 978 and was enshrined in Yasaka Shrine in May, 979, 110 years after the earthquake. 

     The Japanese word Gion comes from Jetavana, which was one of the 5 most famous Buddhist monasteries or viharas in India. The five are believed to have already existed while the Buddha still lived. Gion Shrine enshrines the guardian god of Jetavana, who was called Gozu in Japan. Gozu chose to be born as a son of Mudang as a part of the syncretism of Buddhism. The son had a bull head, and grew up to find no bride to get married with. One day, he set out on a journey to find a bride. In brief, at last, he got married to a daughter of Naga, who lived in the ocean. Gozu might have had the power to control water as a natural process.

     Gozu was first enshrined at Hiromine Shrine in today’s Himeji. He was invited to today’s Kyoto when the Kamo River flooded and plague spread, they wished for the healing and anti-flood power of Gozu. He was made the main deity of Gion Shrine, or Yasaka Shrine today, in Kyoto.  He was further invited to many parts of Japan, as we had many floods and epidemics, and he is enshrined in more than 2,300 shrines.

     As Koda Village was along the Ina River, the village could have been damaged by the flood caused by the earthquake or it was just developed from the latter half of the 9th century to the 10th century.  Anyway, the temple buildings were completed in 998.

     In the year, Emperor Ichijo (980-1011) was impressed with the temple's history and presented its name plate.  The temple's Acalanatha statue, most of which was caved out of one cherry tree, is also supposed to have been made in the year.

     Emperor Shirakawa (1053-1129) appointed Fujiwara Kagemasa to be the administrator of the Koda Manor, and Kagemasa revived the temple, which still has the ruin of Kagemasa's grave.

     In 1301, Hojo Sadatoki (1272-1311), the head of the head family of the Hojo Clan and the Regent of the Kamakura Shogunate, ordered Fujiwara Kiyohara and Kiyotada to rebuild the temple under the name of Emperor Go-Fushimi (1288–1336).  That might have meant either Kiyohara or Kiyotada was the samurai steward of the Koda Manor.  The oldest reclining Buddha picture is supposed to have been presented to the temple in those days.

     When Araki Murashige (1535-1586) was attacked by Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) in 1579, the temple was burned down.  Nobunaga seized the temple's rice fields but also confiscated the whole manor.  The priests and monks of the temple built 3 hermitages and kept the deities.

     When Ikeda Mitsushige (?-1628) ruled the village, he supported the revival of the temple.  The temple still keeps Mitsushige's letter dated March 17th, 1602.

     Due to the movement to abolish Buddhism and to destroy Buddhist images in the 19th century, the temple declined.  Kojun, who was the priest from 1903 to January, 1958, consolidated its branches, halls, and other buildings into what the temple is today.

     Jofuku-ji Temple is also the #20 member temple of the Settsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

Address: 3 Chome-11-2 Koda, Ikeda, Osaka 563-0043

Phone: 072-751-3940

Yasaka Shrine

Address: 4 Chome-7-1 Koda, Ikeda, Osaka 563-0043

Phone: 072-751-3790

Virtual North Settsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #21 Hoden-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when Hoden-ji Temple was founded in Koda Village, Teshima County, Settsu Province.  As Uasaka Shrine was founded in 978, Koda Village could have been old, but it doesn't necessarily mean the temple was so old.  The village was ruled by Hasagawa Chube (?-1665), who was one of the leading figures of the Nossa Senhora da Grasa incident in 1610.

Address: 3 Chome-4-5 Koda, Ikeda, Osaka 563-0043

Phone: 072-751-4820

Trees In the Town

Virtual North Settsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #20 Hoen-ji Temple

 

     Hoen-ji Temple was founded at the beginning of the 15th century.  It was revived by Priest Eko, who also founded Hoon-ji Temple, whose temple name has the same Chinese character notation as Hoen-ji.

     The temple has the statue of Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses, which is said to have been made by Genshin (942-1017).

     Genshin's father was Urabe Masachika.  The Urabe Clan had been living in Katsuragi County, had been serving the god of Katsuragi, and had been working for the Imperial Court as fortune-tellers.Fortune-telling is "uranai" in Japanese.  Genshin was born in 942.  His mother was said to have belonged to the Kiyohara Clan.  She must have been one or two generations older than Sei Shonagon (966-1025), who was also said to have belonged to the same clan.  Genshin could be said to have come from a line of intellectuals.

     In 948, Genshin’s father died.  In 950, he entered Mt. Hiei to study samatha-vipasyana and vajrayana under the strong influence of his mother, who was very religious.  In 955, he entered the Buddhist priesthood.  In 956, he made a lecture on the Shorter Sukhavativyuha Sutra for Emperor Murakami.  The emperor praised him, and gave him fabrics and textiles, which he presented to his mother.  She, however, sent them back with a tanka poem,

     “Wished you’d make it in the next world.

     "Sorry to know you make it in the world."

To answer the admonition, Genshin secluded himself in Eshin-in Temple, Yokokawa, Kyoto.

     In 985, he finished writing The Essentials of Rebirth in the Pure Land. In 1017, he passed away, or was reborn in the Pure Land.

     It is unknown why and how the statue was brought to Hoen-ji Temple.

Address: 3-1 Tateishicho, Ikeda, Osaka 563-0053

Phone: 072-751-3623

Hoon-ji Temple

Address: 5 Teramachi, Amagasaki, Hyogo 660-0867

Phone: 06-6411-6108