Visiting the Grave of a Distant Ancestor's Rock-Carved Gorinto [City-Designated Cultural Property]
Just the other day, I visited the memorial tower of a distant ancestor for the first time in a while on a weekday.
This is a Kamakura-period rock-carved Gorinto (five-ring pagoda) of our ancestors, and for our clan, including my own family, it is the oldest existing grave. Interestingly, because it retains the style of the Kamakura period so well and holds high historical value, it has been designated as a city cultural property by Minamiboso City (then Wada Town) since the Showa era. However, since it was carved into the sandstone mountainside, it has weathered significantly due to aging, and I wonder if it will return to sand in another two centuries.
It is truly the impermanence of all things...
While Gorinto themselves are commonly seen at old historical sites, it is rare in Japan to find one carved into a mountainside like a Buddhist image. This form is said to be the style of a samurai shrine from the Kamakura period, and on the Chiba side across the sea from Kamakura, it is considered a particularly high-precision (high-completion) rock-carved Gorinto. Because it is so valuable in terms of local history, it was certified as a cultural property during the Showa era.
Above all, the very existence of this rock-carved Gorinto seems to quietly tell the story of the deep connection between the Kamakura government and our ancestors who crossed the Uraga Channel from Sanada Village in Sagami Province to Mihara-go in Awa Province at the end of the Heian period.
My family is from the Sanada (眞田) line of the "Miura Party," a great powerful clan of Sagami Province in the Middle Ages, and I am one of the descendants of the main lineage. If we are talking about a bird's-eye view of the history of the "Boso Sanada" who were the pioneering lords of Mihara-go in Awa Province during the Middle Ages, I might be the most knowledgeable person in this day and age.
By the way, on this day, after lighting incense at the incense stand I had been allowed to place there some time ago, I decided to offer my favorite Daily Yamazaki wrap bread, a "hamburger," which I had bought for my own lunch. Since I think it's delicious, I'm sure my distant ancestor would find it delicious too... yeah, no doubt about it!
If I leave the hamburger bread as is, it will inevitably be eaten and scattered by wild boars, deer, badgers, and raccoon dogs, making the area dirty, so at the right moment, I ate it myself as an offering returned to me.
(-人-) Namu namu namu namu...
But what do you think about having an ancestor's grave designated as a city cultural property?
I feel like I'm crazy (chuckle).
The temple where the rock-carved Gorinto is located is here, the Nichiren sect temple "Shobun-ji."
From the parking lot of Shobun-ji, you can see "Mihara Shiroyama Castle (Kanda-yama)," which was prepared for siege warfare.
I have no intention of climbing Kanda-yama, the site of the mountain castle, but there is a similar historical site (?) called the Mihara Castle ruins on the hill behind this Shobun-ji. That said, even though it's called a castle ruin, it's just a plateau, and the road to it is narrow and steep, so I've rarely gone there because it's a hassle to drive (even though it's within walking distance)... well, since I was alone that day, I visited it for the first time in a while after this.
To be continued...
Mihara Castle and its surroundings seen in satellite photos
Footprints of ancestors in the late Heian period*Based on local history and family records
Awa Province, Asai District, Mihara-go: Sphere of influence at the peak of the Kamakura period
(Current: Minamiboso City, Wada Town and Kamogawa City, Emi area)
Shobun-ji (Fumon-ji) MAP
270 Nakamihara, Wada-cho, Minamiboso-shi, Chiba Prefecture
● Click here for the continuation ↓