Shiofune Kannonji Temple

What Is Shiofune Kannonji Temple?

Shiofune Kannonji Temple (塩船観音寺, also written Shiofune Kannon-ji) is a temple of the Daigo branch of Shingon school Buddhism in Shiofune, Ome City, Tokyo, whose Main Hall, Amida Hall and Niomon Gate, all built in the late Muromachi period (1467 to 1572), were designated Important Cultural Properties of Japan on November 29, 1946.

The temple's formal name is Daihisan Kannonji, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs lists its three buildings under that name: Kannonji Temple Main Hall, Kannonji Temple Amida Hall and Kannonji Temple Niomon Gate. Locally, though, everyone calls it Shiofune Kannon, and signposts, bus stops and maps follow suit. It is worth keeping the place name attached: there are several other temples called Kannonji in Tokyo alone, including one in Yanaka. The address is 194-1 Shiofune, in a fold of low hills north of Kabe Station on the JR Ome Line.

Shiofune Kannonji Temple's History: From Legend to the Mita Clan

A temple chronicle written in 1751 traces Shiofune Kannonji Temple back to the Taika era (645 to 650), when the nun Yao Bikuni is said to have come east from Wakasa and enshrined a tiny thousand-armed Kannon, about 5.4 centimeters tall, on this spot. Yao Bikuni is a figure of folklore: having eaten mermaid flesh, she supposedly lived for 800 years.

The chronicle goes on to say that the monk Gyoki restored the ruined hall in the Tenpyo era and named the place Shiofune, "salt boat," because the ring of hills resembles the hull of a ship. Later the Tendai monk Annen rebuilt the Kannon Hall, added an Amida Hall and a Yakushi Hall, and organized twelve sub-temples. These are the temple's own traditions; they do not date the buildings that stand today.

Firmer evidence comes from the Middle Ages. The Mita clan, local lords who controlled the Ome area in the Muromachi period, were the temple's chief patrons. An inscription on the pedestal of the principal image records that it was repaired in 1512 with Mita Ujimune and his son Masasada as sponsors, and the guardian statues in the gate were repaired under Masasada and Tsunasada in 1533. The three surviving halls are believed to belong to this period of Mita patronage. The clan was destroyed by Hojo Ujiteru in the 1560s, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's commentary suggests that this may explain why the Amida Hall was never quite finished.

The Important Cultural Properties of Shiofune Kannonji Temple

Three buildings at Shiofune Kannonji Temple were designated, and each is an Important Cultural Property in its own right. The national database dates all three to the late Muromachi period, and all were designated on the same day in 1946.

• Main Hall: 5 by 5 bays (about 12 meters square), hipped roof of thatch. The shrine cabinet inside is designated together with the hall
• Amida Hall: 4 by 3 bays, hipped roof now covered in copper sheeting shaped like thatch, built around a small inner sanctum ringed by an aisle
• Niomon Gate: an eight-legged gate three bays wide with a single central passage, gabled thatched roof, with guardian statues in the side bays

The principal image, a standing thousand-armed Kannon carved by the sculptor Kaisei, and the set of 28 attendant deities that flank it were themselves designated Important Cultural Properties on September 30, 2020. The 28 attendants were made by the sculptor Jokai and his workshop between 1268 and 1288; the Tokyo commentary ranks the set second only to the famous one at Sanjusangendo in Kyoto among complete groups. The guardian figures in the gate became Tokyo Metropolitan Tangible Cultural Properties in 1960. Two giant cedars beside the steps up to the Main Hall have been a Tokyo Natural Monument since 1953, the same year Ome City designated the temple grounds as a historic site.

Walking Through the Grounds

The grounds of Shiofune Kannonji Temple fill a bowl-shaped hollow, and the buildings climb the slope in sequence. Approaching from the south, you meet the Niomon Gate first, standing where the flat land meets the hills. It is the formal entrance to the precinct, and you walk straight through its open central bay.

The Amida Hall stands a short way beyond the gate. From there a flight of stone steps leads uphill past the small Yakushi Hall, between the two great cedars (about 43 and 40 meters tall), to a leveled terrace halfway up the hillside where the Main Hall stands. Measured on the map, it is roughly 50 meters from the gate to the Amida Hall and another 80 meters to the Main Hall, so all three can be seen in a short walk, though the last stretch is steps and slope.

To the left as you face the Main Hall, the hollow opens into the azalea garden, its slopes planted solid with shrubs, and on the rim stands the Shiofune Peace Kannon statue erected in 2010 for the temple's 1,350th anniversary. Those features are modern; the three historic buildings sit together along the older, cedar-shaded approach below them.

Festivals and Seasons at Shiofune Kannonji Temple

Spring is Shiofune Kannonji Temple's busiest season. According to the temple, the azalea garden opens on April 8 and the azalea festival runs into early May, with some 20,000 bushes of about 20 varieties flowering in turn from early to late types. On May 3, the annual grand festival, a large outdoor fire ritual is held in the garden, followed by fire-walking across the embers, which ordinary visitors may join.

The principal image is a hidden Buddha kept inside the shrine cabinet of the Main Hall. The temple says the cabinet doors are opened four times a year: the first three days of January, January 16, May 1 to 3, and the second Sunday of August. Hydrangeas bloom along the paths in June and July, and bush clover and red spider lilies follow in autumn.

Getting to Shiofune Kannonji Temple and Visiting

The Ome City Tourism Association gives this route: from the north exit of Kabe Station on the JR Ome Line, take a Toei or Nishi Tokyo bus to the Shiofune Kannon Iriguchi stop, then walk about 10 minutes. Walking all the way from Kabe Station takes about 35 minutes. The temple has parking for visitors.

Entry to the grounds is normally free. During the peak of the azalea festival the temple charges admission: 300 yen for adults (junior high school age and up) and 100 yen for elementary school children, with the garden open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and car parking at 700 yen. The paid period shifts each year with the flowering, so check the temple's website before you go. The amulet counter in front of the Main Hall is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

All three Important Cultural Properties can be viewed freely from outside. The temple does not publish rules on entering the buildings or on photography, so if you hope to go inside or plan to take pictures, it is best to ask the temple office first (phone 0428-22-6677).