destiny, which originated from Buddhist sermons as the word, sekkyō, implies, are sung to a pathetic tune of the shamisen string instrument. The popular entertainment enthralled the masses in the seventeenth century and was transmitted to Chichibu by a musician from Edo on his way home from a visit to Mitsumine-jinja. The villagers adapted the performance style to their own taste by incorporating local dialect and erotic jokes. The vulgar style died out in Edo, but has been preserved in this area. Today, performances are given several times a year at local festivals or by special request for a fee.
At the end of the path, turn left and follow the road around the edge of the fenced-in sports grounds. This is where the village holds its autumn festival on the last Sunday of October, and where the puppet show is performed. Follow the road to the right; past the sports grounds, take the left uphill fork. As the steady ascent seems to somewhat level off, there will be, on the left of the road, a wooden signpost, painted brown and topped with a decoy kingfisher, pointing to the right for Temples 6, 7, and 9 and Yokoze Station 札所六•七•九 横瀬駅. Follow the sign. The town of Yokoze should be highly commended for their well-marked guide for visitors. You can count on with these wooden posts, which will lead you along the winding downhill, and almost at the bottom of the downhill, to the left to Temples 6 and 7. Past a farm on the left 川原田農園, where grapes and mushrooms may be picked for a fee in the season, the road will curve first to the right and then to the left. Still another sign will guide you straight ahead to the entrance to Temple 7, which is marked by a tall gray granite pillar inscribed with several kanji characters 青苔山法長禅寺. It stands on the right, across the road from a shop. It is perfectly acceptable, and more convenient if walking, to visit Temple 7 before Temple 6.
Temple 7, HŌCHŌ-JI 法長寺, has a large main building with beautiful white walls and bell-shaped windows. The spacious building is almost overwhelming and has large carved panels in the transoms. The panels illustrate a story related to the origin of Temple 86 on the Shikoku pilgrimage. The temple was founded to enshrine a statue of the Eleven-headed Kannon, and a jeweled ball was sent from China as an offering to the Kannon, but was snatched away by the Dragon King. A woman diver, praying for the Kannon’s protection, dived deep to the bottom of the sea and got the ball back, risking the King Dragon’s desperate chase, but died upon landing on the shore. The story was dramatized by Chikamatsu for a jōruri ballad and has also been adapted for Noh. The stone statue of a lying cow in front of the main hall represents a legend relating to this temple. The tale goes that a tenth-century warrior fled here after defeat in a battle only to die. However, when peace arrived, his wife happened to pass by this area and dreamed of her dead husband, who said that because of many sins he had committed as a man of sword, he had been turned into a cow and was having a hard life. Awake from the dream, she immediately became a nun to pray for the salvation of the poor man’s spirit.
Leaving the temple, retrace your steps to the granite pillar and turn right. At the next crossroad, make a sharp left. Continue straight ahead, passing a small shop on the right-hand corner of the next crossing. When you come to a fork in the road, go right, following the sign with a red arrow pointing to Temple 6, BOKU’UN-JI 卜雲寺. There will be a small stream on your right. As you come around a curve, a large stone lantern indicates the entrance to the temple a little off to the left.
Perched on a rather steep hill, this small temple commands a fine view of Mt. Bukō looming over fields studded with farmhouses. By now you may have developed a feeling of attachment to this mountain, which has been constantly visible during the walk. Not high or imposing, the mountain impresses the viewer with its strong, clear outline. Because its crisp form is usually clearly visible from a distance, local people have become quite emotionally involved with it. Chichibu farmers believed that the god of the mountain controlled the crops from there. The mountain was also regarded as a dwelling for the spirits of their ancestors.
Retrace your steps to the small shop, where you will turn left to go to Temple 8, SAIZEN-JI 西善寺. You will pass fruit orchards on the left, where one may pick strawberries in hot houses in January and February, and grapes in July and August. Cross the bridge over the Yokoze river and pass under a concrete highway bridge. Keep to the left and at an intersection with a grocery shop turn right, walking under the Seibu Railroad bridge. Soon after crossing a small bridge with black railings, you will find a signpost on the left, which points to Temple 8 札所八番西善寺 at the top of the short uphill.
As you walk up, a torii can be seen a short distance away on your left. Behind it is located Satomiya-jinja, which is the village base of a mountain-top shrine dedicated to the god of Mt. Bukō. On April 15 and October 1, both festival days, kagura shrine dances from the sixteenth century are performed to drum and flute music. At the crest of the hill a charming roofed gate marks the entrance to Saizen-ji situated on a lower ground. A magnificent five-hundred-year-old maple tree spreads its branches, exuberant foliage providing a comfortable shade to pilgrims after their long journey. Wearing a beautiful coat of moss, the tree promises splendid colors in the fall. The main building of the temple is decorated with carved and painted transoms depicting Confucian teachings of filial piety, enhanced by decorative motifs, such as lions and peonies, the crane and pine, chrysanthemums and waves. The inscription is given at another building on the right.
While you wait, notice a pair of stately stone lanterns placed in front of the main building. These have been moved from Zōjō-ji in Shiba, Tokyo, where they used to stand until 1964. Originally they were donated by daimyo lords as offerings on the occasions of memorial services for the Tokugawa shoguns who are buried at the temple. When Seibu Railroad Co. built the Tokyo Prince Hotel, part of the temple compound was included in the hotel premises, and about 600 stone and bronze lanterns needed to be disposed of. Seibu first moved some of them to a park in Higashi Murayama and then gave them to whichever temples in Chichibu were interested in having them. They are all inscribed with a three-leaf crest of the Tokugawas and characters to identify who gave when, to whom. For instance the left-hand lantern (as you face the main building) was given to the sixth shogun Ienobu, whose posthumous name is Bunshō-in 文昭院, in 1712 by Lord Fujiwara Yasukiyo 藤原安清; the right-hand one to the seventh shogun Ietsugu with a posthumous name, Yūshō-in 有章院, in 1716 by Lord Minamoto no Toshioki 源利意. Similar lanterns may be found at Temples 22, 23, 28, 29, and Seiun-ji.
Leaving the temple, walk back to the bridge with black railings and after crossing it, turn left according to the signpost at the fork for Temple 9 and Yokoze Station 札所九番 横瀬駅. After crossing another small bridge, bear right and then turn left, just in front of the elevated Seibu Railroad tracks. At the next intersection, the path continues to the other side of the road, leading toward an elevated highway. At the crest of the path, turn right and stay on the main road, keeping the railroad on your right. For several minutes you must endure the heavy traffic of dumping tracks which serve the two Mitsubishi companies on both your sides. Walking under the railroad tracks, you will arrive at an irregular junction of four streets. If you continue along the road you are on, you will arrive at Yokoze Station of Seibu Railroad. To visit the next temple, bear to the right, in the direction indicated by a brown sign 秩父札所九番明智寺 (a sharper right will take you to the cement factory). Keep to the right and you will soon come to a crossroad at which is situated Temple 9, AKECHI-JI. It is a small temple, which the villagers cooperate in maintaining. They have raised funds for replacing a run-down Kannon hall with the present one, an unusual hexagonal hall and square building.
The Kannon of this temple has a reputation for being especially kind to mothers and children. A festival on January 16, the day to pray for safe childbirth, attracts many female worshippers. This popularity is enhanced by a well-known legend associated with the temple, about a sixteenth-century boy and his blind mother. With no breadwinner in the family, the two lived a hard life, surviving on wild nuts and roots which the little boy gathered in forests. One day during his daily quest, he met an old monk, who taught him two lines of the Kannon sutra that he claimed were effective for healing blindness. The boy and his mother came to this temple and prayed all night to Kannon. At dawn, a dazzling star shone from the altar and touched
