The mountain gate of Eisho-ji Temple restored for the first time in 88 years

By ＴＥＲＲＹ - Last updated: 日曜日, 5月 29, 2011 - Save & Share - Leave a Comment

Eisho-ji Temple(/英勝寺)　in Kawamura City hosted the ceremony to celebrate the completion of the project of rebuilding its mountain gate for the first time in 88 years on this May 17th. http://www.kcn-net.org/bunjo/eishoji/index.html

The monks of Eisho-ji hosting the ceremony at the newly rebuilt mountain gate

Eisho-ji was built by Eishohin(/英勝院), the stepmother of Yorifusa Tokugawa(/徳川頼房), the first feudal lord of Mito clan which was one of the three primary branch families of the Tokugawa family of the shoguns of the Edo Shogunate in the Edo Period 1603-1867, in 1635. The mountain gate was built by Yorifusa’s first son, Yorishige Matsudaira(/松平頼重), who was a feudal lord of Takamatsu clan, but it was destroyed by the huge eathquake disaster in Kanto, the East Rigion of Japan, in 1923. Though other buildings of the temple, such as the main building had been rebuilt earlier, the gate took a long time to be rebuilt until the completion of the project last year. Some other buildings such as the main building , the belfry, and so sorth are designated as the prefectural important cultural assets and quite precious historical remainders. Even the old materials of the old mountain gate were designated that way with the prerequisite of that they were going to be used for the rebuilding construction.

It cost about 150 million yen for the project and several years, according to the explanation of Tsuneo Utsumi, the secretary general of the rebuilding project. Now with the completion of the construction of rebuilding the mountain gate, the temple has totally restored its original structure.

And a precious calligraphy ”英勝寺”of Emperor Gomizunoh(/後水尾天皇), the 108th emperor of Japan(reigned 1611-1629), was discovered during the construction ,which according to Utsumi, will be a new eyecatcher of sightseeing in Kamakura.

The map of Eisho-ji temple and its area in Kawamura

By the way, Yorifusa Tokugawa’s second son and a brother of Yorishige Matsudaira was Mitsukuni Tokugawa, the second lord of Mito clan. A TV drama series “Mito-kohmon (/水戸黄門)” featuring Mitsukuni as the hero has been one of the longest and most popular drama, has been going on consecutively for 42 years. The stories are fictitious but the descriptions of heroic action plots of Mitsukuni and his subjects all of whom hide their indentities and solve problems defeating villains at each episode while traveling around the country is quite simple but easy and enthusiastically welcomed by a lot of people in Japan.