Trees In the Town

 

Virtual Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #6 Gokuraku-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when Gokuraku-ji Temple was founded in Tsukumono Hamlet, Hata Village, Arima County, Settsu Province.  Tsukumono means production.  It is said that there used to be the manor of Hata Clan when Emperor Tachibana no Toyohi reigned from 585 to 587.

     According to Nihonshoki, the Chronicles of Japan, whose editing was finished in 720, Hata Clan was an immigrant clan from or through Korea Peninsula.  The clan had been active in Japan since the Kofun period (about 300-538).

     Some members of the clan founded Hata Shrine and built a workshop in Tsukumono.  Sometime, Tsukumono came to have its own shrine, Tsukumono-Hachioji Shrine, and temple, Gokuraku-ji Temple.

Address: Tsukumono-884 Hatacho, Kita Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-1343

Phone: 078-982-0189

Hata Shrine

Address: Shimoonada−284 Hatacho, Kita Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-1352

Phone: 078-951-0320

Tsukumono-Hachioji Shrine

Address: Tsukumono-361-2 Hatacho, Kita Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-1343

Phone: 078-575-8724

Trees In the Town

 

Virtual Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #5 Eisho-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when and how Eisho-ji Temple was founded in Arino Village, Arima County, Settsu Province.  It is also unknown when and why it was abolished.

     Presumably, it was founded as a shrine temple of Gosha-Hachiman Shrine and/or to take care of the graves in Kirihata Cemetery.  If so, it might have been abolished after the Meiji Restoration Government issued the Gods and Buddhas Separation Order in 1868.

Gosha-Hachiman Shrine

Address: Arino-3988 Arinocho, Kita Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-1312

Kirihata Cemetery

Address 9 Chome−6−6 Arinodai, Kita Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-1321

Trees In the Town

 

Virtual Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #4 Zenpuku-ji Temple

 

     According to the Settsu Meisho Zue, or the Illustrated Guide to Famous Places in Settsu Province, which was first published in 1796, Zenpuku-ji Temple was founded by Gyoki (668-749) and revived by Ninsai.  In 1331, the temple was transferred to Caodong Chan Sect.  The temple is said to have run a kind of a public bathhouse called Ichinoyu.  Zuikei Shuho (1392-1473) wrote that he visited Zenpuku-ji Temple to take a hot spring cure on April 24th, 1452, in his diary Gaun Nikken-roku.  He learned from the temple's monks that Emperor Karu (596-654) had his temporary palace on the mountain opposite.

     During the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1573-1603), Zenpuku-ji Temple was appointed the magistrate of Arima Hotsprings.  Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) held a grand tea ceremony in the temple, and the annual tea offering ceremony, the Arima Grand Tea Ceremony, is held even today.

Address: 1645 Arimacho, Kita Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-1401

Phone: 078-904-0127

Trees In the Town

 

Virtual Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #3 Onsen-ji Temple

 

     According to the legend, in 724, Bhaisajyaguru inspired Gyoki (668-749) to revive Arima Onsen, or the Arima Hot Springs, which was in decline.  He founded Onsen-ji Temple with Bhaiṣajyaguru as its main deity.

     In 1097, a flood destroyed Onsen-ji Temple, but it was rebuilt in 1191 by Priest Ninsei, who restored Arima Onsen, inspired by Kumano Gongen.

     The entire temple was destroyed by fire in 1576, but was quickly rebuilt.  It subsequently suffered another fire, and, in 1590, the Yakushi-do Hall was rebuilt by Nene (1549-1624).  After it burned down during the Edo Period (1603-1868), the current Yakushi-do Hall was rebuilt in 1781.

     With the anti-Buddhist movement at the beginning of the Meiji Period (1868-1912), Onsen-ji Temple was abolished, and all of the buildings and pagodas except for the Yakushi-do Hall were demolished.  Subsequently, Seiryo-in Temple, which was the inner sanctuary of the abolished former Onsen-ji Temple, took over the temple's status and continues to this day.

Address: 1643 Arimacho, Kita \ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-1401

Phone: 078-904-0650

Trees In the Town

 

Virtual Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #2 Nenbutsu-ji Temple

 

     Nenbutsu-ji Temple was founded in 1538 by Priest Kyuyo (?-1623).  In 1712, it was moved to its present place, where the villa of Nene (1549-1624), the wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598), was located.

     Miyoshi Masanaga (1508-1549) fought with Miyoshi Nagayoshi (1522-1564) for Hosokawa Harumoto (1514-1563), the 17th head of Kyocho-Hosokawa Family, till 1548, but Masanaga and Nagayoshi fought against each other in 1549.  That means, 1n 1538, the Hosokawa Clan was declining and the Miyoshi Family was extending their power even in central politics.  It is unknown what Kyuyo had in his mind in those days.

Address: 1641 Arimacho, Kita Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-1401

Phone: 078-904-0414

Trees In the Town

 

Virtual Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #1 Gokuraku-ji Temple

 

     According to legend, Prince Shotoku (574-622) founded Gokuraku-ji Temple in 593, when Empress Nukatabe (554-628) started reigning, around where Ishikura Park is located in the east of Arima River.  Its main deity was the Avalokitesvara statue carved by Kuratsukuri Tori, whose grandfather was Shiba Tatto, who had immigrated to Japan from the Asian mainland in 522.

     Gokuraku-ji Temple was destroyed in a flood that struck Arima in 1097.  It was relocated to its current location and rebuilt in 1191 by Kawakami Isei, who had accompanied Priest Ninsai, who had restored Arima Onsen, or the Arima Hot Springs.  Honen (1133-1212) was invited and the temple flourished as a nianfo training center.

     During the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1573-1603), Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) built the Yunoyama Goten, a bathhouse for his therapeutic baths, next to the main hall.  However, during the Edo Period (1603-1868), the bathhouse was dismantled and moved to Shingetsu-in Temple.  Later, the building was destroyed by fire, but its main gate remains to this day.  The bathhouse was filled in and the priest's quarter was built on top of it.

     The temple burned down in 1774, and was rebuilt in 1782.

     The priest's quarter was partially destroyed in the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995.  During its demolition to repair, part of Yunoyama Goten was discovered beneath the foundations of the quarter.  The remains, along with numerous excavated artifacts such as tea utensils and roof tiles, were designated a Kobe City Historic Site in 1997, and the Kobe Municipal Taiko-no-Yu Museum, built on top of the remains, has been open to the public since 1999.

Address: 1642 Arimacho, Kita Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-1401

Phone: 078-904-0235

Ishikura Park

Address: 411-9 Arimacho, Kita Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-1401

Shingetsu-in Temple

Address: 2 Chome-4-31 Nishiyama, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1537

Phone: 079-562-4310

Taiko-no-Yu Museum

Address: 1642 Arimacho, Kita Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-1401

Phone: 078-904-4304

Trees In the Town

 

Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage

 

     Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage is said to have been organized sometime between 1688 and 1704.  It isn’t clear who organized the pilgrimage.  In those days, the county was divided among the Tokugawa Shogunate, Tayasu-Tokugawa Family, Kuki Family, Anbe Family, the Hoshina Family, and the Aoyama Family.  So, it can not be a certain domain or its lord that organized the pilgrimage.  In those days, the townspeople's culture flourished around Osaka and Kyoto.  So, it could have been townspeople who organized the pilgrimage.

     The pilgrimage was revived in 1912 and in 2007.  It seems some temples were replaced in each revival.  The details of the replacements aren’t clear.

    In 1912, the photo book of Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage was published in collaboration with Takeda Mitsuyuki of Kaburai-ji Temple; Okamoto Zentaro, a parishioner of Komyo-ji Temple; Yamada Yoshitsugu, the representative of Komyo-ji Temple; and Horikawa Tatsumichi, Komyo-ji Temple's chief priest.

     In 2007, Shigeo Kotani, Toshihiro Noda, and Katsumi Tanaka, who were  Keian-ji Temple’s parishioners, published the guide book of Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

Kaburai-ji Temple

Address: Ikuno-1078-1 Dojocho, Kita Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-1503

Phone: 078-986-4095

Komyo-ji Temple

Address: 3 Chome-13-21 Yamaguchicho Shimoyamaguchi, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 651-1412

Phone: 078-904-1331

Keian-ji Temple

Address: 1192 Kishi, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1541

Phone: 079-563-4748