稱名寺, Buddhist temple in Fuchū, Japan
Shomyoji is a Jishu-sect Buddhist temple in Miyanishi-cho, Fuchū, Tokyo. Its grounds hold the main hall (hondō), a kuri living quarters and a jizō-dō that enshrines the Hinichi Kosodate Jizōson, a Jizō revered by nearby residents. The temple is said to stand on the site of the residence of Minamoto no Tsunemoto, the Rokusoō, when he served as Musashi no suke.
Shomyoji was founded in 1245 by the monk Doa Shonin, with Ikko Daishi as founding abbot, making it an old temple of the Ji-shu school. Tradition holds that the site was once the residence of Minamoto no Tsunemoto, the Rokuso-no-miya, when he served as Musashi-no-suke. In 1801 a stone slab bearing the name Tokuami Chikaudo was found in the temple's bamboo grove.
Shomyoji is a Jishu-sect temple whose Jizo hall honours the Nichigen Kosodate Jizo, a Jizo revered as a patron of children and childbirth, drawing worshippers from nearby neighbourhoods. The temple also keeps a grave for meshimori-onna, women who served at post-station inns; such women were usually discarded at throwaway temples, making this grave unusual.
Shomyoji is a five-minute walk from both Fuchu Station on the Keio Line and Fuchu-Hommachi Station on the JR Nambu Line. The temple grounds at 1-9-1 Miyanishi-cho contain the main hall, the kuri living quarters and a Jizo hall. The Jizo hall draws local worshippers; the grounds are compact and easily covered on foot.
In 1801 a stone slab inscribed "Yoshida Tokuami Chikauji, 14th day of the fourth month of Ōei 14" was found in the temple's bamboo grove, linking the Tokugawa shoguns to this site. Scholars call it a forgery: writing "14" instead of "fourteen" was impossible in the Middle Ages. It is now kept from public view.
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