Trees In the Town

 

Virtual Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #31 Keian-ji Temple

 

     Keian-ji Temple was founded in 1649 to pray for the comfort of Kishi Yoshiuji, who was subject to Akamatsu Norimura (1277-1350), in the other world.  As the year 1649 was the 2nd year of the Keian Era (1648-1652), the temple name might have been after the era name.  It isn't clear why the temple was founded about 3 centuries after Yoshiuji's death.  Kuki Hisataka (1617-1649) became the 1st lord of the Mita Domain in 1633.  The descendants of Yoshiuji might have been on bad terms with the former lords of the domain, the Arima Family.

     The 1st head of the Arima Family, Yoshisuke (?-1421), was the 6th son of Akamatsu Norisuke (1314-1372), Norimura's 3rd son.  Presumably, the Kishi family was a local samurai based in Kishi Fortress, and Yoshiuji became subject to Yoshisuke and was given the Yoshi phrase for the first half of his new first name.  A couple of centuries is long enough to fall out.

     As there is the Kishi Ancient Burial Mounds No. 1 between Kishi Fortress Site and Keian-ji Temple, the Kishi Family could have been a local powerful family since prehistoric times.

     It is unknown when Goryo Shrine was founded in Kishi Village, but it was revived in 1470 presumably by Yoshiuji, so the shrine must be quite old.  Goryo Shrine was usually founded to soothe the spirit or soul of a certain person who had died an unnatural death.  Someone could have died a violent death along the bloodline of the Kishi Family, or the medieval Kishi Family could have replaced a certain ancient family violently.

     The Religion Registration Book of Mandaraji Village (part of today's Amagasaki City) in 1698 records that 2 daughters of Shichibei in Kishi Village were adopted by a villager of Mandaraji Village as lifelong servants.  As apprenticeship was common in those days, Shichibei or Kishi Village might have had some special reasons to launch young women into lifelong service.

Address: 1192 Kishi, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1541

Phone: 079-563-4748

Remains of Kishi Castle

Address: Kishi, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1541

Kishi Ancient Burial Mounds No. 1

Address: Sanda, Hyogo 669-1541

Trees In the Town

 

Virtual Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #30 Seigen-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when Seigen-ji Temple was founded in Ohara Village, Arima County, Settsu Province.  Ohara Village was first documented in June, 1339.  On October, 19th, 1338, Kishi Yoshiuji, who was subject to Akamatsu Norimura (1277-1350), burned down over 40 houses in Ohara Village on his way to attack Karasaki Fortress, which was located where Amagasaki Gakuen is.  As Yoshiuji belonged to the Northern Court, the village either belonged to the Southern Court or was just involved in battles unluckily.

     Seigen-ji Temple enshrines the sitting wooden Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha statue, which is said to have been the personal guardian Buddhist image of Ohara Munetaka, who ruled Ohara Village based in Ohara Fortress.

     Munetaka's daughter was married to the Kishi Family, but was divorced.  She went back to Ohara Village, but her father, Munetaka, was killed in battle soon after.  She tried to copy the 600 volumes of the Hear Sutra for her late father, but was exhausted and died.  The villagers were pained by her death, and founded Himeyama Shrine at the site of Ohara Fortress.

https://www.city.sanda.lg.jp/soshiki/15/gyomu/rekishi_bunkazai/minwa/1899.html

     It is unknown if Yoshiuji and Munetaka (and thus Munetaka's daughter) were contemporary with each other.  If so, Munetaka could have been killed by his son-in-law.

Address: 896 Ohara, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1515

Phone: 079-564-5860

Himeyama Shrine

Address: Sanda, Hyogo 669-1515

Ohara Fortress Site

Address: Ohara, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1515

Amagasaki Gakuen

Address: 3083 Dojocho, Kita Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-1502

Phone: 078-985-2133

Trees In the Town

 

Virtual Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #29 Komyo-ji Temple

 

     Kinshin-ji Temple is said to have been founded by Priest Joe (643-666), who studied in Tang China from 653 to 665, in 668.  As the dates are inconsistent, the temple might have been founded for Joe.  Anyway, Sai-bo Hermitage was built in the temple.  It is unknown when the hermitage became Komyo-ji Temple.  The temple was revived by Priest Yugi in Kajiya-machi Township in the Sanda Castle Town in 1638.  Kajiya means blacksmith.  The hermitage could have been changed into a Buddhist temple in 1638 and was moved to its present place for the blacksmiths in the castle town.

     The temple buildings were reconstructed in 1766.  It is recorded that Sanda-Tenman and Snada-Fukushima-Ebisu Shrines were burned down in 1734.  If they were burned down in the same big fire, Komyo-ji Temple could have been caught in the fire.

Address: 16-6 Sandacho, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1533

Phone: 079-562-4035

Kinshin-ji Temple

Address: 3 Chome-28-45 Tenjin, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1531

Phone: 079-563-3084

Sanda-Tenman Shrine

Address: 3 Chome-34-5 Tenjin, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1531

Phone: 079-562-2647

Sanda-Fukushima-Ebisu Shrine

Address: 137 Fukushima, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1313

Trees In the Town

 

Virtual Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #28 Kosho-ji Temple

 

     It is unknown when Kosho-ji Temple was founded in Takasugi Village, Arima County, Settsu Province.  As the temple is located near Takasugi-Hachiman Shrine, they had something to do with each other.

     From ancient times, Takasugi Village had the Dasai Shrine, which enshrined Toshigami.  Toshigami was the god of abundant harvests, and specifically of grain or rice.  Toshigami is recorded in the Kojiki, or Records of Ancient Matters, which is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts dating as far back as 641, but Toshigami isn't recorded in the Nihon Shoki, or the Chronicles of Japan, whose compilation was finished in 720.  It is unknown why Toshigami was excluded from the Shintoism hierarchy.  In 1562, the villagers invited Hachiman Shrine, which engulfed Dasai Shrine.

     Takasugi Village first appeared on Keicho Kuni-ezu, or the Keicho Maps of the Provinces, as Tasugi Village.  Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, conducted a land survey of the distribution and rice yields of the feudal lords' territories and the lands of temples and shrines across Japan in September, 1605.  He appointed Nishio Yoshitsugu (1530-1606) as magistrate in charge of Eastern Provinces and Tsuda Hidemasa (1546-1653) as magistrate in charge of Western Provinces.  The maps are said to have been made based on this survey.

     The village name Takasugi first appeared in the Shoho Go-cho, namely Shoho Village Notebooks, which is the statistics books of villages across the country.  The Tokugawa Shogunate ordered all the domains to make the statics of the villages in their domains in 1644.  As the year was the 1st year of the Shoho Era, the books were called Shoho Go-cho.

     On December 2nd, 1644, which is the first year of the Shoho Era, the 3rd Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604-1651), ordered Inspector Generals, who were superintendents of feudal lords, Inoue Masashige (1585-1661) and Miyagi Masayoshi to have the lords of all the domains to prepare and submit village registers.  Starting on the 16th, Masashige and Masayoshi summoned the daimyo's officers in Edo and ordered them to submit the registers by the end of the following year.  They also issued similar instructions to the shogunate's magistrates in provinces.  In addition to the village registers, they also ordered to submit maps of provinces, castle maps, and road registers which listed land routes, sea routes, and abolished castles.  The lords with castles along the Tokaido Highway were also required to submit wooden models of their castles.  Many provinces took several years to submit their records, with some even delaying their submission beyond the Shoho era (1644-1648).

     Village registers recorded the land area of ​​each village, but the shogunate instructed that the total land area of ​​each domain be adjusted to match their official land area.  Omote-daka are the rice outputs recorded when a lord was granted their territory, and were different from the actual outputs.  Rather than understanding the domains' actual productivity, the shogunate was reluctant to change the lords' ranking and status, which was measured by Omote-daka.  This kind of formalism constantly damaged the shogunate’s economic policies.

     In principle, the unit of statistics was the province, but Ezo, Ryukyu, and Shodoshima each became a unit, and Mutsu Province was divided into seven units.  In provinces with domains, a powerful domain would be appointed as the coordinator, or a couple of domains would share the responsibilities and work together.

     Masashige also played an important role in the persecution and eradication of early Christians in Japan. 

Address: 2 Chome-11-16 Takasugi, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1512

Phone: 079-563-3675

Trees In the Town

 

Virtual Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #27 Kinsho-ji Temple

 

     Kuwabara-san Kinsho-ji Temple was founded by Minamoto Mitsunaka (912-997) sometime between 970 and 973, belonging to the Shingon Sect.

  In 1228, when Dogen (1200-1253), the founder of the Caodong Chan School in Japan, returned from Song China at the age of 28, he stopped by Kuwabara to soak in Arima Hotsprings for relaxation.  As the mountain on which the temple stood resembled Mount Bulao (Forever Young) in China, he named the temple Taiso-san Kinsho-ji and converted it to his sect.  So is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese character Song.  It is unknown where Mount Bulao was, but it is highly probable that he visited today's Nanjing City, which has Bulao Village.  I have visited the city a couple of times but have never been to the village, so I can't tell whether or not the village resembles Kuwabara.  Neither do I guarantee that you’d be forever young by visiting either village.

Address: 866 Kuwabara, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1521

Phone: 079-564-3950

Bulao Village

Address: No. 103 Zhenqi Road, Jiangpu Sub-district, Pukou District

Trees In the Town

 

Virtual Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #26 Chosho-ji Temple

 

     Chosho-ji Temple was founded in today's Ichigayatamachi,Shinjuku City, Tokyo 162-0843, in 1616, when Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) died, by Priest Eiteki, with Priest Somo (?-1675) as a nominal founder.  Later, Chosho-ji Temple was moved to its present place.  Another Chosho-ji Temple was relocated within Edo City in 1635, when the Outer Moat of Edo Castle was widened.  As Kuki Hisataka (1617-1649), who was the lord of the Sanda Domain, was a member of the constructors of the castle, the temple could have been moved to the domain in 1635, too.

     The remove of Chosho-ji Temple to the domain was supported by Ozawa Seibei and Yamaoka Gorosaku.

     The mystery of Chosho-ji Temple has 2 points.  First, who was Somo?  Why did the priest who could have been no more than a baby or a toddler when Ieyasu died have to be confined in a Buddhist temple?  Did Seibei and Gorosaku take part in the construction, meet Somo, and pity him?  Which did Somo move, to the one in Edo or to the one in the Sanda Domain?

     Chosho-ji Temple in the Sanda Domain was founded at the foot of Kuwabara Fortress.  The Kuwabara Family was ousted from the fortress by Araki Murashige (1535-1586) sometime between 1573 and 1592.  Kuwabara Sadanari was subject to Sengoku Hidehisa (1552-1614), who fought for Tokugawa Hidetada (1579-1632), the second Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate.  In 1600, Hidehisa was in the army of Hidetada, they were unable to reach the Sekigahara main battle in time.  However, Hidehisa successfully spared both he and Hidetada after the blunder.  Hidetada remained grateful to Hidehisa for the remainder of his life.  Did that have something to do with the relocation of the temple?  If so, was Somo an obstacle for Hidetada to be the second Shogun after Ieyasu's death? 

     Somo is said to have been the 3rd priest (or would-be 3rd priest?) of Choryu-ji Temple, which had been founded in 1593 by Kono Morimasa (1541-1617), who had been subject to Takeda Harunobu (1521-1573) and his son, Katsuyori (1546-1582), in Kai Province.  After Katsuyori was cornered to commit suicide on March 11th, 1582, by Ieyasu, Morimasa became subject to Ieyasu in June.  Anyway, did Somo have something to do with the Takeda Clan?

     If Seibei and Gorosaku had pity on him, how did Somo live in the domain from 1635 to 1675?  40 years is long enough to fully have a life. 

Address: 69 Yamata, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1511

Phone: 079-562-2043

Chosho-ji Temple

Address: 9 Ichigayayakuojimachi, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 162-0063

Phone: 03-3341-0997

Kuwabara Fortress Site

Address: Kuwabara, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1521

Choryu-ji Temple

Address: 2 Chome-31-2 Koenjiminami, Suginami City, Tokyo 166-0003

Trees In the Town

 

Virtual Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #25 Tokko-san Kaburai-ji Temple

 

     According to temple tradition, the mountain on which Kaburai-ji Temple stands has been a sacred mountain since prehistoric times.  The area is also said to be the birthplace of Princess Hoshihito, who gave birth to Prince Shotoku.  Shotoku built the temple in 581.  At that time, a kabura-ya arrow was donated, and the temple was named Kaburai-ji.  Kaburai literally means Kabura to Shoot.

     For your information, a kabura-ya arrow whistled when shot and was used in ritual archery exchanges before formal medieval battles in Japan.  The usage of a kabura-ya arrow was first documented in the Tale of Hogen, which is a Japanese war chronicle or military tale, and which relates the events and prominent figures of the Hogen Rebellion in 1156.  The tale is believed to have been completed around 1320 in the Kamakura Period.  

     So, it is uncertain if a kabura-ya arrow existed in Japan in the 6th century.

     The temple was burned down in a war during the Southern and Northern Courts Period (1336-1392), and it was burned down again in a forest fire in the Edo Period (1603-1867).  The temple was rebuilt in 1862 by Priest Yua.

     The Tenchugumi Incident, which was a military uprising to revere the Emperor and to expel the foreigners, broke out in Yamato Province on September 29th, 1863.  They were finally defeated in September, 1864.  The uprising was supported not only by some people in Yamato Province but also by some in the surrounding provinces.

     In 1873, when some ex-samurai in Mita called themselves the remnants of Tenchu-gumi, attacked temples and shrines, Kaburai-ji Temple was attacked and burned down, and it was abolished.

     In the autumn of 1955, a decade after Japan was defeated in World War II, Prince Kuni Asaakira (1901–1959), who was an elder brother of Empress Kojun (1903-1989), visited the site where Kaburai-ji Temple used to stand.  It is unknowable what he prayed for.  Let me list his economic performances:

     October 14th, 1947: As he was demoted to commoner status, a lump sum of 8,393,000 yen (approximately 420 million yen in 2024 value) is paid by the government.

     1947: He declared his assets for property tax purposes.  7,048,000 yen (approximately 350 million yen in 2024 value) worth land, excluding national land he actually owned.  To pay property tax of 5,352,000 yen (approximately 270 million yen in 2024 value), he sold his main residence in Miyashiro-cho to Masaichi Nagata (1906-1985) for 7,700,000 yen (approximately 385 million yen in 2024 value), and moved to a villa in Tokiwamatsu-cho, Shibuya Ward (today's Shibuya 4-chome).

     1950: The national land of his villa in Tokiwamatsu-cho became his private property through a related party transfer.  Around that time, the Imperial Household Agency intervened in the financial recovery of the Kuni Family, and a "Reconstruction plan for the Imperial Family" was drawn up to increase the family's assets by reselling land.  The family moved to a new home in Nishi-Ochiai, Shinjuku Ward, and secured an annual income of 2.7 million yen (54 million yen  in 2024 value) by managing the remaining assets.

     1951: He sold the villa to Matano Kensuke (1894－1984), president of Iino Kaiun Co., Ltd., for 13.5 million yen.

     1951: When the lot of the former Kuni Family's residence was sold by the government to the University of the Sacred Heart, he took possession of part of it through a personal transfer and resold it to Sacred Heart for a profit.

     1951: He launched the Japanese-made perfume brand Kuni Perfume.

     1952: He contracted to cover up a crime committed by an Indian trader, gave gifts to the Chief Prosecutor of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, and entertained customs officials.

     1952: He sold art and real estate, earning 22 million yen (approximately 400 million yen in 2024 value).

     His colorful history of love affairs was more gorgeous than his economic achievements, and I, such a common and ordinary person, would rather avoid explaining in detail.  Some say he had over a dozen love children.

     Nakamura Masataka entered the temple in May 1959, the goma hall was rebuilt in May, 1965, and the Three-Storied Pagoda was built in May, 1973.

     A branch was founded in Hakodate City in 1978.

     The Main Hall was rebuilt in 1992, and the Bentendo Hall in 1994.

     Ancient lotus plants, whose seeds were discovered by Nishino Mariko under the guidance of Oga Ichiro (1883-1965) at a Jomon ruins in the University of Tokyo Kemigawa Athletics and Sports Ground, are grown in the pond on the temple grounds.

     What did Asaakira pray for in 1955?  And what is the relation between Asaakira and Masataka?

     Anyway, Kaburai-ji Temple's san-go is Tokko-san.  Tokko literally means a one-pronged vajra.  The Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #24 Taifuku-ji Temple's san-go is Sanko-san.  Sanko is namely the three-pronged vajra, with two makara, plus a central prong.  Buddhism has  five-pronged vajra, with four makara, plus a central prong;  seven-pronged vajra, with six makara, plus a central prong; and nine-pronged vajra, with eight makara, plus a central prong.  It is obvious that the Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #24 Taifuku-ji Temple and the Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #25 Kaburai-ji Temple are linked with Prince Shotoku.  There is Goko-san Komyo-ji Temple, which has something to do with Prince Shotoku.  Could there be Nanako-san and Kyuko-san temples?

     Kaburai-ji Temple is also the #10 memver temple of the Settsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

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

Phone: 078-986-4095

The University of Tokyo Kemigawa Athletics and Sports Ground

Address: 1035 Hanazonocho, Hanamigawa Ward, Chiba, 262-0021

Phone: 043-273-8669

Goko-san Komyo-ji Temple

Address: Ikuno-837 Dojocho, Kita Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-1503

Phone: 0120-358-553