Toyokawa Inari Shrine

A Soto sect temple in Toyokawa-cho, Toyokawa City, Aichi Prefecture. It is called Enpuku-san. The principal image is the Thousand-Armed Kannon Bodhisattva. Its correct name is Myogon-ji, but it is usually known as Toyokawa Inari because of the deity Dakiniten (the local Buddha of Inari) enshrined as the guardian deity of the mountain gate. It was founded in 1441 (Kakitsu 1) by Tokai Gieki, the sixth generation descendant of Kangan Giin. It is one of the three major temples of the Soto sect. According to legend, when Kangan Yoshitada was returning to Japan after traveling to China during the Kōgen era (1256-57), Takinitsun appeared on his ship riding a white fox and promised to protect him. After his return, he carved her image and enshrined her as a benevolent deity to protect the temple. After the Takinitsun statue was enshrined, the temple saw many pilgrimages as Inari worship became popular from the end of the Edo period onwards, and it was especially popular with military commanders such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Imagawa Yoshimoto and Tokugawa Ieyasu. The temple grounds include the mountain gate, Buddha hall, Takinitsun Hall, a three-story pagoda and a training hall, and to the west of the Shoin is a Tsukiyama pond garden from the early Edo period. The temple's treasures, two wooden standing statues of Jizo Bodhisattva, are designated as Important Cultural Properties of Japan. In addition, Toyokawa Inari in Motoakasaka, Minato Ward, Tokyo is a branch temple of this temple.

[Akira Suganuma]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

愛知県豊川市豊川町にある曹洞(そうとう)宗の寺。円福山(えんぷくざん)と号する。本尊は千手観音菩薩(せんじゅかんのんぼさつ)。正しくは妙厳寺(みょうごんじ)というが、山門の守護神として祀(まつ)られた吒枳尼天(だきにてん)（稲荷神の本地仏）によって通常は豊川稲荷の名で知られる。1441年（嘉吉1）寒巌義尹(かんがんぎいん)の6代の法系である東海義易(とうかいぎえき)を開祖として創建。曹洞宗三賽(さんさい)所の一つ。伝えるところによれば、寒巌義尹は康元(こうげん)年間（1256～57）中国に渡って帰朝のおり、船に白狐(しろぎつね)に乗った吒枳尼天が現れ、守護を約束したので、帰朝後その姿を刻み、護法の善神として祀ったという。吒枳尼天像が祀られてから江戸末期以降の稲荷信仰の流行とともに参詣(さんけい)が多く、とくに織田信長、豊臣(とよとみ)秀吉、今川義元(よしもと)、徳川家康などの武将の帰依(きえ)を受けた。境内には山門、仏殿、吒枳尼天堂、三重塔、専門道場などがあり、書院西には江戸初期の築山(つきやま)泉水庭園がある。寺宝の木造地蔵菩薩立像2躯(く)は国重要文化財。なお、東京都港区元赤坂の豊川稲荷は当寺の別院である。

［菅沼　晃］

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