1 Palace carpenter Sakujuro Nomura
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| By Nomura Sakujuro, a temple carpenter. |
The Achievements of Nomura Sakujuro, a Palace Carpenter
About 200 years ago, there was a carpenter who was said to be "a master craftsman in Ikeda".
He was Kunimitsu Nomura Sakjuro.
Kunimitsu was born in 1815 to a lumber merchant in the village of Yamura, Ikeda.
Ever since he was a child, he loved to whittle wood and make things, so he apprenticed himself to a temple carpenter.
By the time he was 24 years old, he was already on his own, and built the shrine tower of Benzaiten by himself.
Since then, he has done many jobs, including the Shinmei Shrine in Tsuduhara, the Tado Shrine in Wakinoshima, the gate of Eisenji Temple in Ikeda, and the repair of the Rokkakudo Hall at Eihoji Temple on Kokeizan.
Sakujuro's most famous technique is said to be the nagare-tsukuri style.
Nagare-tsukuri is the most commonly used style of shrine architecture, and refers to a building style in which the front of the building extends long enough to form a Gohai (a brim for worshippers).
The most famous examples of Nagare-zukuri architecture are the main hall of Shimogamo Shrine and the main hall of Ujigami Shrine in Kyoto.
One of the characteristics of Sakujuro's work is the graceful carvings of dragons, elephants, and komainu (guardian dogs), which, together with the sloping roof, give the buildings a graceful appearance.
Tsuduhara Shinmei Shrine Building Episode
While building the main shrine of Shinmei Shrine, a piece of wood was cut to the wrong dimensions.
The error was so subtle that an ordinary person would not have been able to tell, but Sakujuro, being a man of honesty, told the truth and apologized.
It can be said that Sakujuro was worthy of the title of master craftsman not only for his skill but also for his character.
When building the Shinmei Shrine in Tsuduhara, he slept in the house of the village headman, who even gave him instructions on when to cut the wood.
When carving the sculptures, he would read sutras and cover himself with water before starting work.
The Shinmei Shrine thus built was unaffected by Typhoon Isewan, which caused extensive damage in the Tono region.
In his later years, Sakujuro created statues of Daikokuten and sent them to people he knew.
Among them is a large 2-meter statue of Daikokuten, which still exists in Mizunami.
Eisen-ji Temple also still has a statue of Daikokuten with three faces inside its belly.
In recognition of this work, Sakujuro was given the rank of "fifth cousin.
Since then, he has worked on numerous shrines and temples as “Nomura MokunokamiKunimitsu,” the fifth highest rank.
Since then, he has been so well known as “Jingoro of the Bakumatsu era”.
However, he lived in poverty and died in 1871.
His wonderful architecture and sculptures can be seen in Ikeda-cho and along the lower street.
Architectural structures and sculptures left by Sakujuro Nomura
Eisenji Temple (Ikeda-cho, Tajimi City)
Kokeizan Eihoji Temple Rebuilding of Kannondō and Kaisandō (both national treasures), rebuilding of Rokkakudō and reconstruction of Mugei-bashi Bridge (1-42 Kokeizan-cho)
Tsuduhara Shinmei Shrine (228-1 Nakanodō, Tsuduhara-cho, Tajimi City)
Tado Shrine Main Hall (1 Heiwa-cho, Tajimi City)
Jinkenji Temple (9-32 Ohara-cho, Tajimi City)
Utsutsu Myōmi-ji Temple Gomado (Kasugai Utsutsu-cho, Kasugai City)
Utsutsdu Shrine (Kasugai Utsutsu-cho, Kasugai City)
Daikokuten Statue (Kakujyo District, Toki-cho, Mizunami City)
Gukeiji Temple (Mitake-cho, Kani County)
Tsumagi Hakken Shrine (Toki City)
Unuma Kannondo Temple (Kakamigahara City)
Eisenji Temple
It is said that during the Keicho period (1596-1614), Ryojo Ritsushi, a monk of the Mikkyu sect, and Shuten, a monk of the Soto sect, came to the temple and had a close relationship with it.
Shuten moved Rengein, which was located to the southeast of Sumiyoshi Shrine, to its current location and rebuilt it, changing its name to Ishidozan and the name of the temple to Eisenji.
The sculptures in the main hall of Eisen-ji Temple are famous as the work of Nomura Sakjuro Kunimitsu.
Nomura Sakjuro Kunimitsu was a master carpenter who built the main hall and the gate of Eisen-ji Temple.
The Eisenji Somon gate is the oldest of the existing Yakuimon style gates in Tajimi City with a definite date of construction, and is of great historical value and importance to the region, as it was built by a local carpenter. The munefuda, which is affixed to the wooden frame of the gate, is a valuable source of information on the date the gate was rebuilt and the carpenters and village headmen of the time, and has been designated as a supplementary designation by the city.
2 Isamu Koike of the Liberal Civil Rights Movement
"Itagaki may be dead, but freedom is not."
In 1882, Taisuke Itagaki, a leader of the liberal civil rights movement, was making the rounds giving speeches in Tajimi, Iwamura, Nakatsugawa, and Mino-Ota.
As he was leaving a social gathering in Gifu City, he was attacked by a mob.
At that time, Itagaki Taisuke shouted, "Itagaki may die, but freedom does not die.
Isamu Koike supported Itagaki and others in the liberal civil rights movement from the local level and continued the movement.
Isamu Koike's background (biography)
Isamu Koike was born in 1854 in Ikeda Village, Kani County.
His father, Yoshisaku, was a doctor who had been in the family business for generations.
The Koike family's medical practice dates back to 1626, when the first Koike, Genpo, opened an ophthalmologist's office.
Isamu was the eldest son of Ryosaku.
His mother died when he was 2 years old, and he was raised solely by his grandparents.
From the age of six, he attended a nearby temple school, where he was a voracious reader.
At the age of 12, he entered the private school of Harunari Nishiyama, a doctor of the Kuguri clan (in present-day Kani City), and aspired to become a doctor, but he was not interested in it and became interested in history and the Analects of Confucius.
Inspired by his friends who moved to Tokyo, Isamu moved to Tokyo without his parents' support and devoted himself to study.
After returning to Ikeda, Isamu studied at the Normal School and became a teacher at Sokushin Elementary School (the predecessor of Ikeda Elementary School).
He petitioned the government for children whose families were too poor to attend school.
At that time, there was a growing nationwide movement to establish the National Diet, which sought to realize democracy through speech.
Isamu became strongly interested in these political movements.
(early Meiji era) civil liberties movement
In 1880, Isamu Koike joined the Aichi Nippo newspaper in Nagoya and became a newspaper reporter.
Later, he founded “Keiseisha” and strongly advocated the establishment of the Constitution and the National Diet.
He also gave many speeches, holding 50 of them.
To continue his campaign, he needed a large amount of money, so he sold his fields and borrowed money.
Finally, his freedom of speech was taken away, and he was arrested and sent to prison for his involvement in the case.
Isamu worked hard to improve the treatment of prisoners and their hard labor, and even taught them how to read and write.
Isamu Koike becomes mayor of Ikeda Village.
After being released from prison, Isamu was elected as a member of the Gifu Prefectural Assembly and later devoted himself to the development of the village as its mayor.
At the end of the Meiji era (1868-1912), he established the Ikeda Village Agricultural Association, the forerunner of today's agricultural cooperatives, and focused on improving local agricultural techniques and increasing production.
In 1940, Isamu Koike, who devoted half of his life to the liberal civil rights movement, passed away at the age of 86.