Chofu ~ SEP,2024

The name Chofu comes from the tax system under the Ritsuryo system, the tax system of "so-yo-cho". Cho was a tax on textile products and local specialty products, but here the tax was paid in cloth, so it was named Chofu. The large river Tamagawa flows to the south, and the area is always at risk of flooding, but a flood during the Bunmei era (1469-1487) washed away the ancient Fuda Tenjin Shrine, and the shrine moved to its current location (north side of Koshu Kaido, north exit of Chofu Station) in Bunmei 9. The original site (Fuda 5-chome, Chofu City) is now a park (Kotenjin Park), and ruins from the Paleolithic and Jomon periods have been found, indicating that people have been living there for a long time.

Kasumine Shrine, adjacent to Meishoin Temple, is enshrined on top of an ancient burial mound. Like Fuchu, the neighboring Chofu also has many ancient burial mounds and ruins.

The Tama River has flooded many times, but on the other hand, over the course of 100,000 years it has carved away the Musashino Plateau, creating fertile plains and numerous springs. From Tachikawa City to Setagaya Ward, cliffs of 10 to 20 meters high stretch for 30 km, but in this area known as the Kokubunji Cliff Line in particular, abundant rainwater is filtered and stored in the Kanto Loam and Conglomerate layers, and water constantly springs out from the cliffs, making Jindaiji an area with particularly abundant spring water.

Mushanokoji Saneatsu moved to Sengawa at the age of 70, hoping to spend his final days somewhere close to water. He opposed the Russo-Japanese War, and as a member of the Shirakaba group, he advocated idealism and humanitarianism, promoting the "New Village" movement in Miyazaki and Saitama. However, he later supported World War II and was banned from public office after the war. Some may think he was unprincipled, but even as a single person, various values coexist and struggle, and I think it shows how well-mannered he was to suddenly change his attitude, boldly and honestly, when in other words, normal guys would hide their true colors out of concern for the opinions of others.

The Mushakoji family was a branch of a branch of the Kan'in line of the Northern Fujiwara clan, a prestigious family that began with Fujiwara no Michinaga's uncle, Kinsue. Saneatsu was famous for his poor handwriting, but many of his manuscripts were on display at the museum.

About 1km south of Jindaiji Temple is a temple with the elegant name of Gionji Temple. The head priest Nakanishi Gogen, who supported the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, mourned those who died in the war, and Itagaki Taisuke planted a pine tree at a memorial service here.

Gogen's adopted son was Godo (Gogen's nephew), who was from Kanazawa, and later founded the Wild Bird Society of Japan. On either side of the main hall stand monuments and pine trees commemorating the achievements of the father and son. Few people visit the temple, but the neatly swept grounds give a sense of dignity.

Taisho-ji Temple is located near Fudaten Shrine. It was formed in 1915 by the merger of three temples, and among them, Eiho-ji Temple was the Fuda gogakko school. The gogakko was an educational institution that existed from the Edo period to the early Meiji period, and was more public than temple schools or private schools, but it was converted into an elementary school at the same time as the Meiji government implemented the education system. There is no doubt that the educational infrastructure and the national character that accepted it were what ensured Japan's overwhelmingly high literacy rate and the subsequent leap forward, but am I the only one who worries that it is continuing to deteriorate?

At the end of the Edo period, Fukaya, which I visited recently, produced Shibusawa Eiichi, while Chofu produced Kondo Isami. His birthplace was on Hitomi Kaido, near Nogawa Park, and he was originally from the wealthy Miyagawa family, but he was adopted into the head family of the Tennen Rishin-ryu （swordsmanship) school and took the surname Kondo.

I will leave the story of the Shinsengumi and Kondo Isami for another article, but his grandson, Hisataro, was killed in action in the Russo-Japanese War, and both grandfather and grandson are buried at Ryugenji Temple (Mitaka City).

By the way, Shigeru Mizuki, who lived in Chofu, set the residence of Gegege no Kitaro in the forest of Fudatenjin Shrine. Kitaro can be seen anytime in Tenjin-dori Shopping Street.