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

Trees In the Town

 

Virtual Old Akashi 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #33 Fukuzo-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when Fukuzo-ji Temple was founded.

     U.S. Air Force bombed Akashi City 6 times in 1945: on January 19th with 62 bombers, on June 9th with 24 bombers, on June 22nd with 26 bombers, on June 26th with 31 bombers,on July 7th with 124 bombers, and on July 28th with 3 bombers.  On July 7th, they used incendiary devices, and Fukuzo-ji Temple might have been burned down on that day.  The temple was abolished with its graveyard left as Daitoku-ji Ganjo-ji Kyodo Cemetery.  Kyodo means Cooperation or Join.  It is unknown why Fukuzo-ji was renamed Ganjo-ji on that occasion.

     Fukuzo-ji Temple’s Buddhist tanka poem is unknown.

Daitoku-ji Ganjo-ji Kyodo Cemetery

Address: 5-5 Taruyamachi, Akashi, Hyogo 673-0898

Trees In the Town

 

Virtual Old Akashi 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #23 Ryuzo-in Temple

 

     Taisan-ji Temple was founded in 716 by Fujiwara Umakai (694-737), who was appointed to be the vice ambassador of the 9th Japanese Mission to Tang China in the year.  When the temple was most prosperous, it had 41 sub-temples in its precincts, but only 5 of them survive today.  Ryuzo-in Temple is one of the surviving 5.

     Ryuzo means Dragon Elephant and is the high priest who excelled in both learning and virtue.  The original word for both a dragon and an elephant is naga, and dragons and elephants are the most superior animals in Hindu mythology.

     It is unknown why Ryuzo-in Temple left the Akashi 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, and its Buddhist tanka poem is also unknown.

Address: Zenkai-224-242 Ikawadani-chō, Nishi Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-2108

Phone: 078-974-0308

Trees In the Town

 

Virtual Old Akashi 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #15 Seisui-ji Temple

 

     Seisui-ji Temple claims to have been founded in 716 by Priest Joe (643-666).  Their time lines are contradictory to each other.  The temple's main deity is Bhaisajyaguru.

     Jinno-ji Temple, Chorin-ji, Koke-ji, and Jurin-ji Temples claim that they belong to the Akashi Seven Yakushi Buddhas.  Taisan-ji Temple might be a member of the Akashi Seven Yakushi Buddhas.  If we included Seisui-ji Temple, we would have 6 of the Akashi Seven Yakushi Buddhas.

     Shimoosabe Sumiyoshi Shrine’s priest, Morioka Tangonokami, is said to have led the foundation of Seisui-ji Temple.  The shrine is said to have been founded in 754, nearly 4 decades after the foundation of Seisui-ji Temple.  Everything is inconsistent with one another.

     The temple’s Buddhist tanka poem is:

It's a blessing.

As we make a wish,

Bhaisajyaguru protect us every time.

or

A white waterfall in the mountain

And the sound of the winds through pine trees

Will certainly make it cool.

     Inconsistency shadows even on the Buddhist tanka poems.

Address: Wada-570 Oshibedanicho, Nishi Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-2206

Jinno-ji Temple

Address: 2 Chome-14-18 Hayashi, Akashi, Hyogo 673-0034

Phone: 078-923-4351

Chorin-ji Temple

Address: 9-4 Zaimokucho, Akashi, Hyogo 673-0893

Phone: 078-911-4727

Koke-ji Temple

Address: 2-chome-10-35 Taidera, Akashi, Hyogo 673-0845

Phone: 078-911-3755

Jurin-ji Temple

Address: 1074 Takasagocho Yokomachi, Takasago, Hyogo 676-0051

Phone: 079-442-0242

Taisan-ji Temple

Address: Zenkai-224 Ikawadani-chō, Nishi Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-2108

Phone: 078-976-6658

Shimoosabe Sumiyoshi Shrine

Address: Saita-302 Oshibedanicho, Nishi Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-2207

Phone: 078-994-4406

Sanuki no Suke’s Diary (22)

 

     Suddenly, something was thrown through the sliding door.  I looked to see what it was, and saw a person crouching there, wearing the indigo-and-safflower colored outer garment I had left in my room.  It was my sister, Fujiwara Kenshi, who had come to visit after hearing of the Emperor's death.

     "Oh, how pitiful.  I will never again be able to see you alive.  Why did you avoid me and not call me?  I cared for you without fail, even through your long illness.  Now, at the very last moment, I have fallen ill myself.  I regret my misfortune."

     She continued crying.

     I sat quietly beside him, pressing the fine quality crepe paper I had used to wipe the sweat from his face against my face.  "Until now, I have thought that my love for the Emperor was just as strong as those crying people's, but perhaps mine was inferior, for I was unable to cry out loud like them," I realized.

Trees In the Town

 

Virtual Old Akashi 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #7 Kodo-ji Temple

 

     Ei-jima or Ei-ga-jima Island was located in the west of the mouth of Akane River.  In 726, Kasa Kanamura composed a poem mentioning the island as Nakisumi-no-funase:

I have heard that in Matsuho Bay on Awaji Island,

which can be seen over Nakisumi-no Funase,

Young female divers collect seaweed in the morning

And parch seaweed to get salt in the evening.

I have no way of going to see these girls.

Without a man's heart but with the broken heart,

I just go back and forth in the same place,

Yearning for the female divers.

I have neither a boat nor a helm.

     Funase was an inlet where boats waited for favorable or weaker winds.  In 744, Gyoki (668-749) built a breakwater for the port and overhauled it as Uozumi Port.  The port was one of the 5 important ports in Harima and Settsu Provinces: Muro, Matogata, Uozumi, Owada, and Kawajiri Ports, which were located in today's Tatsuno, Himeji, Akashi, Kobe, and Amagasaki Cities.

     It is unknown when Eigashima Port was developed in the east of the mouth of Akane River.  Muryo-ko-ji Temple was originally founded for the port town people.  Priest Rin'yo moved the temple to its present place, with its Kannon-do hall left as Kodo-ji Temple, in 1613, 4 years before Ogasawara Tadazane (1596-1667) started building Akashi Castle and its castle town in 1617.  Some argue that the temple was moved due to severe coastal erosion.  Akashi Port might have become better and more prosperous than Eigashima Port.

     The temple’s Buddhist tanka poem is:

The heart that prays for the comfort

In the other world

Is just as pure as the water in the sea.

     It is unknown why the temple left the pilgrimage.

Address: Eigashima-785 Okubocho, Akashi, Hyogo 674-0064

Muryoko-ji Temple

Address: 10-11 Taikancho, Akashi, Hyogo 673-0897

Phone: 078-912-8839

Eigashima Fishing Port

Address: Nishijima Okubocho, Akashi, Hyogo 674-0065

Funage Castle Site

Address: 10-33 Shinmeicho, Akashi, Hyogo 673-0027