History ...See these photos!
Miscellaneous notes at the Sumidasan Kisshoin Tamon Temple (the former Daikyozan Myooin Gudenji) tell us the temple was built in the Tentoku era (957-60) at Sumida Sengenjuku. The temple was built in the middle of the Heian period at the height of Fujiwara power, but the exact date or the names of the priests who founded it are unknown. The temple was dedicated to Fudo, the god of fire.
Tamon Temple moved to its current site in the Tensho era (1573-91). Legend tells us that this was in 1590, when Ieyasu Tokugawa was given control of the eight provinces of the Kanto plain and moved his headquarters to Edo, the present-day Tokyo. There is no written record of the temple’s move. A diary of that era, the Tensho Nikki, tells us the Sumida River caused massive flooding in 1590 and Ieyasu immediately restored the embankments. It is assumed that this is when the temple was moved. After the move to its current site, the figure of Bishamonten was installed and the temple was dedicated to this fierce god of war. The temple was renamed the Sumidasan Kisshoin Tamon Temple.
In the Edo period that followed Ieyasu’s ascent to Shogun, Japan experienced many long years of peace that are unusual for world history, but the public still suffered from many natural calamities and misfortunes. Against this backdrop of disaster, the figure of Jizo, the guardian deity of travelers and children, was placed in the temple precincts.
The Tokugawa Shogunate fell in 1868. The new Meiji government ordered the separation of Buddhism and Shintoism and issued other laws that inflicted great devastation on Buddhist temples throughout Japan. Tamon Temple was not exempt. Despite its perilous situation, successive generations of head priests and their lay supporters guided the temple through such events as the dark days of military imperialism, the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and the Tokyo air raids of World War II. A survivor for more than 1,000 years, Tamon Temple preserves the Buddhist tradition.
Tamon Temple moved to its current site in the Tensho era (1573-91). Legend tells us that this was in 1590, when Ieyasu Tokugawa was given control of the eight provinces of the Kanto plain and moved his headquarters to Edo, the present-day Tokyo. There is no written record of the temple’s move. A diary of that era, the Tensho Nikki, tells us the Sumida River caused massive flooding in 1590 and Ieyasu immediately restored the embankments. It is assumed that this is when the temple was moved. After the move to its current site, the figure of Bishamonten was installed and the temple was dedicated to this fierce god of war. The temple was renamed the Sumidasan Kisshoin Tamon Temple.
In the Edo period that followed Ieyasu’s ascent to Shogun, Japan experienced many long years of peace that are unusual for world history, but the public still suffered from many natural calamities and misfortunes. Against this backdrop of disaster, the figure of Jizo, the guardian deity of travelers and children, was placed in the temple precincts.
The Tokugawa Shogunate fell in 1868. The new Meiji government ordered the separation of Buddhism and Shintoism and issued other laws that inflicted great devastation on Buddhist temples throughout Japan. Tamon Temple was not exempt. Despite its perilous situation, successive generations of head priests and their lay supporters guided the temple through such events as the dark days of military imperialism, the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and the Tokyo air raids of World War II. A survivor for more than 1,000 years, Tamon Temple preserves the Buddhist tradition.
Shingon-Chisan Buddhism Sumidasan Kisshoin Tamon Temple
TEL：03-3616-6002 ADRESS：31-13, Sumida 5-Chome Sumida-ku, Tokyo ...Copyright 2007 sumidasan-tamonji...
TEL：03-3616-6002 ADRESS：31-13, Sumida 5-Chome Sumida-ku, Tokyo ...Copyright 2007 sumidasan-tamonji...