Keishoin and Otowa

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. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .
. Persons and People of Edo - Personen .
- Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, see below
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Keishoo-In, Keishōin 桂昌院 Keisho-In
(1628 - 1705)
Mother of Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi.



- quote
Childhood Name: 玉 (Tama)
She was born in 1628,
the second daughter of a Nishijin grocer. In her childhood, she was called Tama. She was later adopted by Honjô Munetoshi, steward for Kanpaku Nijô Mitsuhira. Traveling to Edo as the result of some interaction or connection with O-Ume, daughter of Rokujô Yûjun (a member of the Ôoku), Tama entered the Ôoku herself as a concubine of Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu, and eventually gave birth to Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, who would grow up to be Shogun himself.
After Tsunayoshi became Shogun in 1680, she took up residence in the san-no-maru (third bailey) of Edo castle, and came to be known as San-no-maru-dono as a result.
A private temple was established for her in Edo in 1682; this would later become the Edo  Gokoku-ji. Keishôin was also involved in the construction of Zenkô-ji, a fifteen-year project.
In 1702,
she rose to the Junior First Rank, and many members of her family, beginning with her (adoptive) younger brother Honjô Munesuke, enjoyed the benefits of serving as direct shogunal vassals. It was around this time that her Buddhist devotion grew stronger, and she eventually took on the Buddhist name Keishôin.
She died in 1705, at the age of 79.


Plaque in honor of Keishoin at Imamiya Shrine, Kyoto.
- source : samurai wiki

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. Yanagimori Jinja 柳森神社 Yanagimori Shrine .
was built in the late 17th century by a woman named Keisho-in 桂昌院, the daughter of a lowly greengrocer. As a teenager she was 'scouted' by representatives of Edo castle to join the O-oku -- the harem of women who serviced the Shogun. While this might sound like a sad fate by modern standards, in feudal times a spot in the Ooku was akin to winning the lottery for a woman. No matter how humble your origins, you were treated like royalty in the Ooku, particularly if you caught the Shogun's fancy.
And Keisho-in not only caught his fancy but bore him a son -- a son that eventually became the Fifth Tokugawa Shogun, making her a powerful political figure in her own right. Not bad for a woman who had been sweeping the floor in a vegetable stand just a few decades earlier.
- quote by Hiroko Yoda

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. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .

Otowachoo　音羽町 Otowa district in Edo

There is a famous temple in the district :

. Otowa Gokokuji 音羽護国寺 Otowa Gokoku-Ji
文京区大塚5-40-1 / Bunkyo ward, Otsuka 5-40-1

This temple was founded in 1681 by 亮賢僧正 high priest Ryoken (1611 - 1687)
on behalf of Shogun Tsunayoshi for his mother, 桂昌院 Lady Keisho-In.
The main statue is 如意輪観世音菩薩 Nyoirin Kannon Bosatsu.

After his mother's death, Shogun Tsunayoshi visited this temple very often. There was even a special road for him, through the fields of this otherwise farming area. There was no monzenmachi　門前町 town before the temple.
In 1697 the Bakufu government begun to build houses along the road and asked an old retainer of Keisho-In named
音羽 Otowa to become the head of the new village. This gave the name to the new developing area.
Around 1705 there were not only busy tea stalls and shops in the village, but also a famous brothel quarter (okabasho 岡場所).

In 1833, 久保田増平 Kuboto Masudaira brought the art of paper making to the area and in the back roads of Otowa village many paper makers settled.
Masudaira was from Nagano, Ina district 信濃国(長野県)伊那郡.

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Otowa Ezu 音羽絵図 old map of Otowa
雑司が谷　Zoshigaya


source : national diet library





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Otowa Gokokuji 音羽護国寺
Hokusai painted a large portrait of Daruma san at this temple.





大達磨像 - 江戸・音羽護国寺
Portrait of Daruma at Gokokuji temple in the Otowa District, Edo .

. Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760 - 1849) .



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. Tokugawa Tsunayoshi 徳川綱吉 (1646 – 1709) .




Thanks to Tsunayoshi, the townspeople got used to the idea of jin 仁 benevolence toward others.

Tsunayoshi employed the blind doctor
. Sugiyama Waichi 杉山和一 (1614–1694) .
the "Father of Japanese Acupuncture". He gave him a large district where Waichi could establish a school of acupuncture for blind people, who thus found a way of making a living for themselves.


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. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .

. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. senryu, senryū 川柳　Senryu poems in Edo .

. Japanese Architecture - Interior Design - The Japanese Home .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .


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