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Hello my fellow travellers!
I had an early start today, getting up and leaving together with Christian, ready to embrace whatever my last day in Tokyo would have to offer. I had a pretty full day planned for today as well, with a visit to Minato in Tokyo, then Kawasaki and then finally meeting up with Juno in Shizuoka. I said my goodbyes to Christian and thanked him for his kind hospitality before we split up, him going to work and me heading for
San'enzan Zōjō-ji, commonly just known as
Zōjō-ji.
It's a large and breathtaking temple complex that officially originates from 1393 but can trace it's origins even further back to the 9th century. Like many other temples in Japan it's been moved around by orders of the various rulers of the region. Unfortunately, again like many other temples, it didn't survive the massive air raids of World War II. Except for one structure though, the large gate
Sangadetsumon, it managed to survive the bombings and thus have the honour of being the oldest wooden structure in Tokyo, dating from 1622. The names means roughly the gate of three
moksha which means that if you pass through it
you can free yourself of the three passions of greed, hatred and foolishness. I hope that everyone pass through this gate with that intent, the world could certainly need less of those three passions at the moment.
After I passed though
Sangadetsumon, hopefully freeing myself of some vices in the process, I came before the
Daiden, the great hall, which was rebuilt in 1974. It's an impressive structure that is perched on top of a steep flight of steps which created an aura of reverence as I approached it from below. Standing next to the approach is a tree that was planted by Ulysses S. Grant in 1879. Here is also the
Shōrō-dō, the bell tower hall, which stands shrouded by several trees. Unfortunately the trees wasn't blossoming right now but I expect that it would have been really breathtaking if they had.
Walking amongst the many monuments that fill the complex I came upon another tree, this one planted by George H.W. Bush in 1982, the same year that I was born. There is also a beautiful statue of
Kannon, the goddess of mercy, who is very popular in Japan and commonly found in Buddhist temples around
Japan. She is one of the Bodhisattva and in China she is known as
Guan Yin, she is also the one who had to stand in for the Virgin Mary when Christians wanted to pray but had to hide their faith during their years of oppression. I expect that will see many more statues of her on this travel.
The biggest draw here though, and what this temple is truly famous for, is the graves of six of the 15 Tokugawa
shōgun as well as some of their wives. The first
shōgun to be buried here was Tokugawa Hidetada, the second
shōgun of the
Tokugawa Bakufu. He ruled from his fathers abdication in 1605 until his own abdication in 1623. The decision of abdicate the throne was a smart power move on both his and his fathers account as it made certain that their rule would continue in stability without any battles over succession.
There used to be a large and beautiful mausoleum here, named
Taitoku-in Reibyō, but it was destroyed in World War II and the ashes of the
shōgun were reburied in their current location in 1958. The current site is called
Tokugawa-ke Reibyō, which means
the mausoleum of the Tokugawa family.
As I mentioned there are six
shōgun interred here, the remaining five of these are the sixth, seventh, ninth, 12th and 14th
shōgun. Their names respectively were Ienobu, Ietsugu, Ieshige, Ieyoshi and Iemochi. You might notice that the interments almost follow an alternate pattern in the numerations, this is by design, as both
Zōjō-ji and
Kan'ei-ji were important family temples of Tokugawa. To settle the matter of where they would be buried they simply alternated between the two temples, for the most part at least. There are two instances of two subsequent
shōgun being buried at the same temple. And of course there are three
shōgun that aren't buried at either of these two temples.
Unfortunately I didn't actually visit the tombs of the
shōgun when I was at the remains of
Kan'ei-ji the other day so I will have to return there some day to remedy that. I would like to have, at some point, payed my respects at the tombs of all 15 Tokugawa
shōgun. The three that aren't buried at either of these two temples are the first and third, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Iemitsu who are buried in Nikkō
(although there are some claims that Ieyasu is still buried in Shizuoka). The last
shōgun is the one that really differs from the rest, Tokugawa Yoshinobu. He was the 15th
shōgun and the one who abdicated to the emperor when the
Bakufu came to an end in 1868. He is buried in
Yanaka Reien, which is a public cemetery, but it has a walled-off enclosure dedicated specifically to Tokugawa.
I figure I'll use this opportunity tell you a little bit about those that are interred here at
Zōjō-ji as many of them led really fascinating lives. Tokugawa Hidetada, for example, was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, born to one of his concubines. He lost his mother due to illness at a young age and as Ieyasu, at that time, was a vassal of Toyotomi Hideyoshi he was sent as an hostage when he was only 11 years old to ensure the loyalty of his father. He survived through this and after his father stepped down in 1605 he took over the reigns of the newly established
Tokugawa Bakufu.
Together with his father he fought in the Siege of Osaka between 1614 and 1615 where he finally destroyed
the last obstacle to sole Tokugawa rule by killing the son of their former ruler, Toyotomi Hideyori. With power secured Tokugawa Hidetada himself stepped down in 1623 to make sure that there wouldn't be a power struggle after his death. Just like his father had he retained most of the actual power even after his abdication. One of his most lasting impressions was his harsh rule against Christians, forcing them to apostatise and executing those that didn't. He died in 1632 at an age of 52 and he is interred together with his wife Oeyo.
Tokugawa Ienobu, the sixth
shōgun, only ruled for three years between 1709 and 1712. However, during that time he did a lot to improve the relationships with the imperial court, reinstating many of their ceremonies and allowing them to form new branch families and to have their daughters wed which had been forbidden to prevent the imperial family from gaining actual power. He even married an imperial princess to one of his sons to form a tighter bond between the imperial court and the
Bakufu. He also stabilised the economy of Japan by introducing the gold coin and instituting many economic reforms.
He
also discontinued the persecutions and cruel punishments of dissidents and he abolished the strict censorship laws because he wanted the voice of everyone to be able to reach the
Bakufu. His short rule was a stable and prosperous one that transformed the
Bakufu from a military government into a civil one. He died at an age of 51 in 1712 and is buried here together with his wife. He was succeeded by his son Ietsugu in 1713, a son who was only three years old at the time.
The story of Tokugawa Ietsugu, the seventh
shōgun is unfortunately a sad one. After inheriting the rule at only three years of age, he would only rule for another three short years. The matters of the
Bakufu was of course primarily being handled by the closest adviser of his father. He sadly passed away already in 1716 due to complications from a common cold and after his death his successor was chosen from another branch of the family.
Tokugawa Ieshige, the ninth
shōgun, ruled between 1745 and 1760 when he abdicated the throne to his son. Unfortunately he was a very inept ruler with little interest in governing and his
rule was marred by much corruption and devastating natural disasters. He also suffered from chronic bad health and a severe speech defect, his father had kept the reigns of government until his death in 1751 but after that most of the decisions fell upon his adviser. He passed away in 1761, at an age of 49, leaving behind a significantly weakened
Bakufu.
As for the 12th
shōgun, Tokugawa Ieyoshi, he ruled between 1837 and 1853 and was the one in power at the time of arrival of Commodore Mathew C. Perry who came from the United States of America to force open the gates of Japan to foreign trade. His rule was a quite unpopular one due to his implementation of the Tenpō Reforms which banned many forms of entertainment, striving to return to the frugality and discipline of the early Edo period. He passed away of a heart failure just a month after the arrival of Commodore Mathew C. Perry, causing a panic during a vulnerable and volatile time in Japan's history.
The last
shōgun to be buried here was Tokugawa Iemochi, the 14th
shōgun. Unfortunately his story is also a tragic one. He came to power
in 1858 amidst the turmoil of the
Bakumatsu, the waning days of the
Tokugawa Bakufu. He was only 12 years old when he had to take up the mantle left to him by his adopted father, Tokugawa Iesada. His closest advisers became his adopted mother, Princess Atsu, whom I look forward to telling you more about some time, and Ii Naosuke, the man who I told you about a couple of days ago who was assassinated outside of the
Sakuradamon.
His short reign, lasting only eight years, saw a lot of internal strife in Japan and from what I can tell he was a kind and mild boy who detested war. Even so, he was summoned before the emperor and forced to commit to expelling all foreigners from Japan. This was an impossible feat that, if carried out, would result in the destruction of Japan by the foreign powers which was substantially more technologically advanced than Japan.
As Iemochi circumnavigated this problem together with his advisers the result became such that the only domain that committed to the effort was Chōshū. On the appointed day Chōshū opened fire on an American merchant ship and as a result of
this they were beaten into a pulp by a combined American and French naval force in 1863.
In a desperate move to regain their footing Chōshū attempted to capture the emperor in what became known as the Kinmon Incident in 1864. However, they were foiled by the domains of Satsuma and Aizu and as a result they were declared an enemy of the emperor, despite being the only ones that had tried to carry out the will of the emperor. By now however the emperor had changed his stance on the expulsion of foreigners and he banished the court officials that had supported the notion o expulsion. This effectively meant the end of the
Sonnō Jōi movement as both the imperial court and the
Bakufu now held the offical position of allowing the foreigners to stay in Japan.
Unfortunately though, the conflict had left and irredeemable scar and Emperor Kōmei ordered the
Bakufu to engage in a punitive expedition to crush Chōshū. This would in reality turn into two expeditions, the first of which was set to happen in 1864. However, it was cancelled thanks to the efforts of Saigō Takamori who suggested that the heads of the
leaders of the Kinmon Incident would suffice as punishment in order to avoid a war. Chōshū accepted and the heads were presented and war was avoided for the moment. The reason for Saigō Takamori to do this, despite the rivalry between Satsuma and Chōshū, is that he feared that his his own domain of Satsuma might be the next one to be crushed by the
Bakufu and he knew that at that time Satsuma wouldn't be able to defend itself if that happened.
The second expedition was planned to go into effect in 1866 which meant that the young Iemochi had to go to war despite not having any wish for it. However, while in Osaka, preparing for the campaign, he succumbed to an illness and died only 20 years old. Just one year after his death the
Tokugawa Bakufu would cease to exist, the Boshin War would start and Japan would change forever.
He is buried next to, but not together with, his wife Princess Kazu, who was married to him against her will in an effort to bridge the growing divide between the
Tokugawa Bakufu and the emperor's court in an initiative called
Kōbu Gattai. However,
she was very reluctant to marry a man of the lower samurai class (even if the
shōgun held the actual power they were still a lower class than the imperial family). Her brother, Emperor Kōmei, forced it through though, but after the wedding she refused to go by the title of
midaidokoro that was bestowed on the wife of the
shōgun. Instead she insisted on still being called by the title of
miya which was bestowed upon imperial princesses.
After the death of her husband she also refused to take the tonsure, traditionally done by the widows of the
shōgun, but was eventually convinced by her mother in law, Princess Atsu. It was a rough time for her though, she had lost her mother just the year before and just the following week her brother, Emperor Kōmei, also passed away, meaning that a vulnerable Japan had now lost both it's
shōgun and it's emperor in a very short time.
Princess Kazu remained strong though and together with Princess Atsu she actually stayed true to Tokugawa
even though they both came from families with an historically strong opposition to the
Bakufu. Their dedication was perhaps the most evident when
they negotiated the peaceful surrender of
Edo-jō and saved the family of Tokugawa from destruction in the early days of the Boshin War. A small statue of Princess Kazu sits at the approach to the
Daiden so that you can pay your respects to her there as well.
So many of these men of power died such tragic deaths at young ages. It only goes to show that no one, neither high nor low, can escape their fate. I hope you found this brief dive into their lives as interesting as I do and that I didn't bore you with this part.
Besides the tombs and the gorgeous buildings there one more place here that really deserves ones attention. It's called
Sentai Kosodate Jizō and it's a small garden dedicated to unborn children, such as those who are stillborn, aborted or miscarried. It's lined with dozens of small statues of
Jizō, the incarnation of Buddha that guards the unborn. Parents are able to chose a statue here to dress in small clothes or to leave small toys or flowers as offerings. It's a colourful yet solemn place that is good for reflecting upon what could have been, especially
after learning about the fate of some of the rulers who left us at a much to young age.
The last thing I visited before I left
Zōjō-ji was the
Enkodaishi-dō, the hall which enshrines Hōnen, the founder or
Jōdo-shū. It is one of the most practised branches of Buddhism in Japan today and it is the branch of Buddhism that
Zōjō-ji follows.
As I left
Zōjō-ji I was starting to get hungry so first I went and grabbed a light meal before I went to my second goal for the day, the temple of
Sengaku-ji. This is where Asano Naganori and the
Shijūshichishi are buried. I briefly mentioned this story a few days ago when I was at
Kōkyo and I promised to dive deeper into in once I came here. The
Shijūshichishi are known in the west as the
47 rōnin, it's a very popular story here in Japan and every year on December 14 there is a festival held in their honour here at
Sengaku-ji.
As I mentioned last time this story began in 1701 when Kira Yoshinaka kept repeatedly insulting Asano Naganori in public, finally pushing Naganori to drawing his sword while still
within the castle of the
shōgun, he assaulted Kira Yoshinaka but failed to kill him. Drawing your sword so close to the
shōgun was a great crime and as a result Asano Naganori was sentenced to commit
seppuku, ritual suicide. All of his lands were confiscated by the
Tokugawa Bakufu, his clan was abolished and the 300 or so samurai that served him were dismissed and became
rōnin, disgraced and unable to find new employment.
Upon hearing these news Ōishi Yoshio, the foremost adviser of Asano Naganori, made sure to get the family of his master into safety before he complied with the orders to surrender the domain to the
Bakufu. Revenge for the death of Asano Naganori had been expressively forbidden by the
Bakufu but even so Kira Yoshinaka made sure to fortify his manor and kept himself very well guarded at all times. Ōishi Yoshio knew that in order to have any chance at avenging the death of his master he would have to deceive everyone, both friend and foe alike.
He gathered the closest of his old comrades, people of a similar mind to him, and in total he managed to gather 47 brave souls
that were set on revenge despite the consequences. In order to fool all of those that were watching him Ōishi Yoshio began to act in a really debauched manner, frequenting brothels and gambling dens, getting drunk and rowdy. He even became so despicable that a commoner kicked him in the face, something that was normally punishable by death. To protect his family during all of this he divorced his wife of 20 years and sent her away together with their two youngest children while he gave his oldest son, Ōishi Chikara, the choice of leaving with his mother or staying and fighting with his father, his son chose to stay with his father.
This charade lasted for almost two years before Kira Yoshinaka became convinced that Ōishi Yoshio had fallen so deep into degeneration that he would be unable to seek revenge any more. While Ōishi Yoshio had been putting on this charade though many of the others involved in the plot had been busy. They had been smuggling weapons into Edo and nestled their way into Kira Yoshinaka's mansion by acting as merchants and workers. One of them, Okano Kinemon Kanehide, even married the daughter of the man
that had once built Kira Yoshinaka's mansion just so that he could get access to the layout of it. Finally they were ready, finally the time had come for their revenge.
Using the more relaxed stature of the spies still observing him Ōishi Yoshio slipped away under cover of night and made his way over to Edo to meet up with the others. Together they renewed their previous vow to enact their revenge before they set out for Kira Yoshinaka's mansion on January 30, 1703. They set up archers on the adjacent rooftops to prevent anyone running for aid once the attack started. They alerted the neighbours that they were not robbers or pillagers, but that they had come their to enact
katakiuchi, revenge for the death of their master. Kira Yoshinaka was quite reviled by his neighbours and the neighbours promised to not inform the authorities or hinder the invaders in any way. Ōishi Yoshio also made a point to everyone not to harm anyone innocent in the ensuing struggle, only Kira and those who directly opposed them would be harmed.
The attackers split up their forces to attack from two points at the same time and
at the beat of a drum they stormed the mansion. The guards of the mansion surged forth and held off the attackers for as as they could until the rear party, led by Ōishi Chikara, managed to break through. Several messengers were dispatched to go for aid but they were all stopped by the posted archers.
Once the dust of the battle settled 16 of Kira Yoshinaka's men were dead and 22 were wounded while none of the attackers had fallen. Kira himself were nowhere to be found though and a desperate search began for him, they feared that he might have slipped away during the fight until they finally found a secret path hidden behind a large scroll on the wall. They pursued and managed to find Kira, guarded by two more men who were easily subdued.
With Kira Yoshinaka found and apprehended Ōishi Yoshio came before him and knelt in respect of his rank and offered him an honourable death by committing
seppuku with Ōishi Yoshio acting as his
kaishakunin, his second. Ōishi Yoshio presented Kira Yoshinaka with the same blade that Asano Naganori had used for his
seppuku. However, Kira Yoshinaka didn't take the blade,
but rather just sat there trembling in fear, speechless and paralysed so eventually Ōishi Yoshio realised that is was futile to ask him and just ordered the others to hold Kira Yoshinaka down while he took his head.
After the deed was done they put out all the lights in the house to make certain that no unattended fires would spread. Ōishi Yoshio then ordered one of the others, an
ashigaru named Terasaka Kichiemon, to ride to Akō to inform the family of Asano Naganori and all his retainers that justice had been carried out. After this they began a rapid march of some ten kilometres through Edo, day was breaking and word quickly spread about what had happened. A lot of people came running to offer them refreshments and to aid them on their way to
Sengaku-ji where Asano Naganori was buried. They cleaned the head of Kira Yoshinaka and layed it before the tomb of Asano Naganori as promised. After this they turned themselves in to the
Bakufu to receive their punishment. Meanwhile the head of Kira Yoshinaka was collected by some of his friends who even signed a receipt for it with the priests of
Sengaku-ji,
a receipt which is still kept at the temple to this day.
This situation created a bit of a quandary for the
Bakufu though as the
rōnin had done the honourable thing of avenging their master while simultaneously breaking the edict that had been issued by the
Bakufu that prevented revenge. Finally it was decided by the
shōgun himself that all of the members would be allowed to commit
seppuku and die honourably and to be allowed to be buried at the side of Asano Naganori at
Sengaku-ji. 46 of them
committed
seppuku together on February 4, 1703, the youngest of them was Ōishi Chikara who had just turned 16 a few days before.
The 47th
rōnin, Terasaka Kichiemon, was still away in Akō and upon his return to Edo he was pardoned by the
shōgun and he lived until the age of 87. After his death he was buried together with his old comrades here at
Sengaku-ji. As the story of what had occurred spread throughout Japan more and more people kept flocking to the tombs here and one of the men who came here was the man from Satsuma that had once kicked Ōishi Yoshio in
the head. He asked for forgiveness for his rude action before he committed suicide and he was subsequently buried next to the
rōnin.
Due to the acts of the
Shijūshichishi the younger brother of Asano Naganori was allowed to reestablish the clan, parts of their old domain was returned to them and several of the old retainers were allowed back into to service.
I can tell you that it was a special moment, standing here before the graves of such great men, and I wanted to pay my respects as best as I could so I lit incense and bowed in reverence before the grave of each and every one of them including Asano Naganori. Next to his tomb stands the tomb of his wife Yozei-in and I offered up incense to her as well. Another tomb that stands out and deserves some extra attention is that of Ōishi Yoshiro himself. I really recommend a visit here for the history kept within this place, it's a fascinating tale of bravery and honour, one that I've seen televised many times, to stand here where the events actually unfolded are quite surreal.
With that I decided that it was
time to leave Tokyo and head to my next goal of the day, the cemetery
Shunjuen in the city of Kawasaki, here I wanted to visit the grave of Toshiro Mifune and pay my respects to him. I went to the office of the cemetery and found a young man from the staff who was very helpful, he brought up a map of the entire cemetery and found out where Toshiro Mifune was interred. When I left the office he gave me the map, however, while I was standing on the approach to the section to where Toshiro Mifune are interred the guy came walking down the path and instead led me all the way to the very grave itself.
I asked him about how to perform the rituals and then he led me over to another part of the cemetery where I could pick up some incense and then he was kind enough to teach me how to show my respects at the grave. It felt nice to finally pay my respects to a man that I've admired greatly while growing up and who still holds a very special place in my heart. I can honestly say that
it was an emotional moment for me, one that I will cherish for years to come.
The first time I came to know the work of Toshiro Mifune was in the late 80's or early 90's when I was only a young boy. I watched the television mini series
Shogun, based on the book by James Clavell which is in turn a fictionalised depiction on the life of William Adams and Tokugawa Ieyasu. It's the work which Toshiro Mifune is most known for in the west but he's starred in hundreds of titles and he worked a lot with the famous director Akira Kurosawa. Three of the movies that they did together ranks as my favourite three movies of all times, these are;
Yojimbo,
Sanjuro and
Seven Samurai.
After I had paid my respects to Toshiro Mifune I made my way back to the train station where I ate some more delicious noodles before getting on the train to Shizuoka to meet Junko. She will also introduce me to one of her students, Takae, in a hope that we will hit it off so to speak. I will also meet her granddaughter Anzu and the four of us
will be living together at Junko's home for the next week or so.
As I arrived at the train station I waited by one of the entrances where Takae found me, she was all excited and took me by the hand and led me over to a parking lot where Junko and Anzu was waiting. Getting into the car with them all felt like coming home again after a long absence. We spent the whole evening just talking and laughing. I gave them some sweets that I had brought with me from Sweden and we all shared in a feast that Junko and Takae had prepared. I also met Junko's dog Vivian who is a really hyperactive bundle of energy. It was a great evening and I look forward to the coming week that we'll all be spending together!
Tomorrow I will meet Takae's mother as well as Sato, that I met last year on the train together with Junko, as well as Sato's husband. Together we will all go to the town of Atami to see a geisha performance!
Until tomorrow I wish you all peace and happy travels!
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RENanDREW
Ren & Andrew
Catching up...
So this is the blog where you first met Takae :) For so many reasons, I love the story of people praying to the god of another religion when their own religion is oppressed...