is a Buddhist chapel located in

Hiraizumi is a town located in Nishiiwai District, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 7,408 and a population density of in 2,616 households. The total area of the town was . It is noted for the Historic Monuments and Site ...

in what is now southern

Iwate Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture at , with a population of 1,210,534 (as of October 1, 2020). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefectur ...

in the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains a ...

of Japan, dedicated to

Minamoto no Yoshitsune was a military commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles which toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan, helping his half-brother Yoritomo conso ...

. It was designated a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty in 2014 as part of the Landscapes of the Oku no Hosomichi. It is managed by neighboring

Mōtsū-ji is a Buddhist temple of the Tendai sect in the town of Hiraizumi in southern Iwate Prefecture, Japan, and also refers to the historic area surrounding it containing the ruins of two older temples, and in a Jōdo ( Pure Land) garden. The curre ...

Overview

The chapel is located on the site of the Battle of Koromogawa, and was built on the ruins of the of Fujiwara no Motohari as was mentioned in the ''

Azuma Kagami is a Japanese historical chronicle. The medieval text chronicles events of the Kamakura Shogunate from Minamoto no Yoritomo's rebellion against the Taira clan in Izokuni of 1180 to Munetaka Shinnō (the 6th shōgun) and his return to Kyoto in 12 ...

''. The palace was located on a hill overlooking the

Kitakami River The is the fourth largest river in Japan and the largest in the Tōhoku region. It is long and drains an area of . page 793 It flows through mostly rural areas of Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures. The source of the river is the Mount Nanashirug ...

some 500 meters east-southeast of the temple of

Chūson-ji is a Buddhist temple in the town of Hiraizumi in southern Iwate Prefecture, Japan. It is the head temple of the Tendai sect in Tōhoku region of northern Honshu. The temple claims it was founded in 850 by Ennin, the third chief abbot of the sect. ...

. In 1189, it was occupied by

Fujiwara no Yasuhira was the fourth ruler of Northern Fujiwara in Mutsu Province, Japan, the second son of Hidehira. At first protecting Yoshitsune, according to his father's will, he was finally forced by Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first ...

, who extended shelter to Minamoto no Yoshitsune after the latter had a falling out with his brother,

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1192 until 1199.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent (''shikken'') after his ...

. This provided Yoritomo with a pretext to declare war on the Northern Fujiwara and his forces quickly overran the defenses of Hiraizumi. The palace was destroyed and was the site of Yoshitsune's last stand with his faithful retainer

Benkei , popularly known as simply Benkei, was a Japanese warrior monk (''sōhei'') who lived in the latter years of the Heian Period (794–1185) .html" ;"title="/sup>">/sup>. Benkei led a varied life, first becoming a monk, then a mountain ascetic, ...

, as was celebrated in the medieval account ''

Gikeiki The , "The Chronicle of Yoshitsune", is a Japanese gunki monogatari ("war-tale") that focuses on the legends of Minamoto no Yoshitsune and his followers. Thought to have been written during the Nanboku-chō period, it has provided inspiration to ...

''. In 1683, the 4th ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

'' of

Sendai Domain The , also known as the , was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871. The Sendai Domain was based at Aoba Castle in Mutsu Province, in the modern city of Sendai, located in the Tōhoku region of the i ...

Date Tsunamura was an early Edo period Japanese samurai, and the 4th ''daimyō'' of Sendai Domain in northern Japan, and the 20h hereditary chieftain of the Date clan. Tsunamura’s succession led to the ''Date Sōdō'' or "Date Disturbance" of 1671, which has ...

built a memorial chapel on the site, and enshrined a statue of Yotsushine. This was visited by famed poet,

Matsuo Basho Matsuo may refer to: Places *Matsuo, Chiba *Matsuo, Iwate *Mount Matsuo *Matsuo Station (disambiguation) *Siege of Matsuo *Matsuo mine , was an iron and sulphur mine located in the village of Matsuo, Iwate Prefecture in the Tohoku region of nor ...

in 1689, and a memorial stelae was later erected commemorating a famous ''

haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or se ...

'' Basho wrote about this site. file:Takadate.JPG, Entrance file:Natukusaya.basyou.JPG, Basho memorial file:Kitakamigawa&tabasineyama.JPG, View of the Kitakami River

References

External links

Official home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Takadachi Gikeido Buddhist temples in Iwate Prefecture Places of Scenic Beauty Hiraizumi, Iwate

Overview

See also

References

External links