Yakusenji — Local services in Kobe

Fukuhara 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #1 Yakusen-ji Temple I got off the train at Wadamisaki Station along the Kobe Subway Kaigan Line at about half past nine in the morning. I climbed up the staircases and noticed a map on the wall. The title of the map said, “Hyogo Port Road: Guide Map.” I was not visiting the remains of the Ancient Hyogo Port, but thought that it would be of some help, turned around, and walked down the stairs to find a smaller portable one. I stepped out of the station with the map in my hand to find my way to my destinations: the temples of the Fukuhara 33 Kannon Pilgrimage. I turned right and walked for a couple of minutes to find JR Wadamisaki Station. That was not the right direction. I turned around and took another road. Soon, I found Mitsuishi Shrine (literally 3-stone Shrine) and noticed 3 stones in the shrine. In legendary times, Okinagatarashi, a legendary empress, was said to have made a military expedition to Silla in the Korean Peninsula. A historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea (Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla) recorded 14 organized piracies by Wa, the Ancient Japanese kingdom, by the end of the 4th century, and Okinagatarashi’s expedition to Silla might have been one of those piracies. According to one legendary story of her expedition, Okinagatarashi left Japan from the north coast of today’s Osaka Bay. As she was pregnant, she prayed to the 3 stones for a safe delivery. But I was not searching for a shrine. Next to Mitsuishi Shrine, there lay Wada Shrine, the guardian god of the whole port area. Of course, it was not what I was looking for. I kept walking for another block, turned left, roamed another couple of blocks, turned right, and finally found a vacant lot with the sign saying, “Yakusen-ji Temple’s Temple-Building Site.” Over the lot, I recognized temple-building-like roofs. I turned at the corner and found Yakusen-ji Temple itself. That was it: the #1 temple of the Fukuhara 33 Kannon Pilgrimage. A stone monument told me there used to be Kaya Palace, where Emperor Shirakawa II (1127-1192) was confined by Kiyomori. I happened to learn that Emperor Kazan (968-1008), who had reorganized the Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, composed a tanka poem here:

The fog at the foot of Mt Arima looks like the sea “Are they waves?”, asked I and Just the winds through the pine trees answered me." (Emperor Kazan)

The Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage is the first 33 Kannon pilgrimage in Japan. No wonder, Yakusen-ji Temple became #1 of the Fukuhara 33...

神戸大空襲で壊滅的なダメージを受けて、規模はかなり縮小されたようだが、歴史の古い湊町の兵庫津・大輪田泊の重要な史跡が集まる。

平安時代中期、紀元984年に17歳で即位した花山天皇は藤原氏の陰謀で19歳で退位して出家。その花山天皇は大輪田泊を愛し、度々ここで過ごしたらしい。花山法皇の歌碑。

平安時代末期、平清盛が後白河法皇を幽閉したとされる萱の御所跡碑。

鎌倉時代、一遍上人の影響で、兵庫津で御詠歌と踊り念仏のミックスした庶民的芸能が生まれ、兵庫津の有力町人をはじめ詠歌踊り念仏連名。

鎌倉時代、隠岐島に流された後醍醐天皇が還幸の時体調をくずすが、薬仙寺の湧水を薬水として献上し服用されるとたち...

平清盛が後白河法皇を幽閉したとされる「萱の御所」跡の石碑があります。

萱の御所は建物は三間四方（1.8㎡）とかなり粗末な造りだったそうです。

実際の場所はこの地から100mほど離れた場所に存在していましたが、昭和29年の運河拡張工事にの際に石碑...