(Photo by Shoji Kudaka/Stripes Okinawa)
After breakfast at Kayaba Coffee, we headed to Kannonji, an old temple about a 10-minute walk from the café.
One thing that stands out as you walk in Yanaka Ginza is how many temples there are.
According to an association of volunteer tour guides in Taito-ward, it was during the Edo Period (1603 – 1867) that many temples were moved to the neighborhood because of the Tokugawa Shogunate’s policy. Thanks to a growing number of visitors to those temples, the Yanaka district developed as a temple town, the association notes.
Although I had a rough idea of where Kannonji was located, it did take a while to find it among the other temples as well as stores in quaint-looking buildings.
After a moment, I looked down a back alley and found Tsuijibei, an old wall that Kannonji is known for.
Measuring 37.6 meters in length and two meters in height, this wall is composed of clay and tiles and topped with a tiled roof just like a regular building. According to the Taito Ward Office, it was built in the late Edo Period. Although part of it was knocked down in the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, it was restored to preserve the cultural heritage from the days of samurai.
Tsuijibei (Photo by Shoji Kudaka/Stripes Okinawa)
Tsuijibei (Photo by Shoji Kudaka/Stripes Okinawa)
According to the Ryoko Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper dedicated to tourism, Tsuijibei is often used in location shooting for TV dramas and movies in scenes like a ninja jumping over the wall.
As I walked along this unique, traditional barrier, I imagined myself posing like a samurai, watching out for an intruder.
Though only the southern section of the wall remains today, the temple website said it used to cover the eastern side of the territory as well.
When we headed to the east side, as expected, we couldn’t find any remains of the fence. But we found an entry to the temple’s premises. As I approached its main building, I found another feature of the temple that I was looking for, a monument in the shape of a square tower topped with a roof with eaves, just like the main building of the temple.
(Photo by Shoji Kudaka/Stripes Okinawa)
This monument is dedicated to Akoroshi, a.k.a. Akogishi, a group of 47 ronins (samurai who lost their lord) during the 18th century. These men assassinated Kira Kozuke no Suke, a high-ranking official of the Tokugawa Shogunate believed to have humiliated their lord, Asano Takumi no kami, in public. The lord Asano attempted to kill Kira himself at Edo Castle but failed to carry through and was sentenced to death by seppuku. On the other hand, Kira was not punished by the shogunate, which was deemed unfair to Asano’s men. To settle the score, the ronins killed their lord’s foe with their own hands, although it cost their own lives as they were sentenced to death by the shogunate later.
49 Ronin Memorial Monument (Photo by Shoji Kudaka/Stripes Okinawa)
Kannonji happened to be the location where those ronins gathered to plot their revenge.
This incident struck a chord with the public as a tale of loyalty and sacrifice, leading to several novels, theatrical plays, movies and TV shows, including not only old Japanese shows but also 47 Ronin, an American film adaption from 2013, featuring Keanu Reeves.
Growing up in the 80s, movies based on the episode were on TV at the end of the year, a nod to the fact that the incident took place in the early morning of Dec. 15, 1702.
I still remember a sinister scene where those ronins march on a snowy road to the house of their lord’s enemy.
Today, with the popularity of samurai dramas declining, the story of the ronins no longer appears on TV or screen as often as they once did. So, it was nice looking at the memorial tower and the old fence as it took me back to the old days.
Kannonji Temple
GPS Coordinates: 35.725623, 139.768178
*Tsuijibei can be found at (35.725306, 139.768208)
