Kagetoshi Toyama and others , members of Toyama Iwamura's family built Koeji Castle on Mt.Jyogane in Uenaegi during the Genko and Kenmu
eras (1331～1334). Jyogane was located on the Kisogawa Nishi Kodo Line ,
and was a fortified area as a guardian of Minoguchi , Kisoji , and Hidakuchi.
It is said that there was a samurai residence on the flatland south of the castle. Even now , the name of the place called "the place of bow "
and the name of house called "the field of the lord " that remain
in Uenaegi are reminiscent of Koeji Castle.
Muso Kokushi , the founder of Tajimi Kokeizan Temple , reached the foot
of Mt. Jogane. Since this place resembled Mt. Koe in Tang (China) , it
was opened as a sacred place by a disciple Koboku Syoei Zen Master in the
firstyear of Kano (1350) , and Kannon Statue bought from Tang was enshrined
, and was called "Chigenzan Koeji Temle". In the Edo period ,
the successor priests disappeared and it became a natural abandoned temple
, leaving only Kannon-do , but it was also demolished by the abolition
of Buddha in the early Meiji era. The Prajnap aramita box at that time
marked the 10th year of Oei , which tells of the acient history of the
temple. In the middle of the Meiji era , the Kannon-do was rebuilt in the
old land by local volunteers , but it was rebuilt in 1995 due to its deterioration. |
