Dog Eaters

Hanno & Hidada, Saitama

Posted on 10.11.22 6:42AM under Uncategorized

After a night at Taishoukaku onsen, we went to look for Koma Shrine and stumbled across Shoden-in Temple. We came across Konishiki, the Samoan Ozeki sumo wrestler at the onsen at breakfast. He is good friends with Pastor Talo of New Hope Church as are we. That was an unexpected treat.

The mighty Konishiki. I will never forget his bout with Yokozuna Chiyonofuji when he threw him off the dohyo and landed on him. To Chiyonofuji’s credit, he was able to get to his feet and climb back onto the dohyo to bow. Not many would have survived being landed on like that.
TaishyoukakuOnsen
A chestnut!
The Men’s rotemburo

We then drove 30 minutes to Hidaka, looking for Koma Shrine. We found Shodenin, first. A really beautiful temple with ponds, exquisitely manicured bonsai, well-kept architecture — lots of nice stone and wood. There were only 3 people at Shodenin — tourists like us — none of them affiliated with the temple. It was a bit strange…

Some of the sponsors that funded the building and renovation of the temple
Wash your hands!
For the children…
Nio guardians

We found Koma Shrine just a little further down the road. There were lots of tourists and lots of ways to spend your money — religious merch!

Komo in Japanese as “Koryō” is the ancient Japanese name for Korea. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled most of the Korean peninsula, large parts of Manchuria and parts of eastern Mongolia and Inner Mongolia. Along with Baekje and Silla, Goguryeo was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.

In the late 6th and early 7th centuries, Goguryeo was often in military conflict with the Sui and Tang dynasties of China. Its relations with Baekje and Silla were complex and alternated between alliances and enmity.

In the summer of 666, King Yeon Gaesomun died and Goguryeo was thrown into chaos and weakened by a succession struggle among his sons and younger brother. Emperor Gaozong saw this as an opportunity and invaded, conquering the kingdom with the help of Silla by 668 AD.

However, there was much resistance to Tang rule. Prince Go Yak-gwang (高若光), son of the last king of Goguryeo, Bojang, sent to Japan in 666 AD to seek military assistance from the Asuka period Emperor Tenji.

After the fall of the kingdom, he remained in exile in Japan. In 716 AD he was granted Koma County in Musashi Province, and settled in this location with 1799 Goguryeo refugees, mostly from Suruga Province.[8] This territory included all of present-day Hidaka and Tsurugashima, as well as parts of Hannō, Kawagoe, Iruma and Sayama. The area continued to be ruled by the Koma clan until the end of the Kamakura period.

Following the annexation of Korea by Japan in 1905, the Koma Shrine was used as a symbol by Japanese government officials, including Governor-General of Korea Jirō Minami, for the assimilation and unification of the Korean and Japanese people.

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