Ueno Park


Tokyo is one of biggest urban cities in the world, and two large green-areas which contain The Imperial Palace and Ueno Park add an accent to the city. Among them Ueno Park provides a refreshing time to the people who visit there.


In April a lot of cherry blossoms welcome people, Ueno Zoo and music halls make the people have fun and The National Museum makes the people come in touch with a historical treasure of Japanese culture through the year. Besides these there are the Mausoleum of Tokugawa shogunates and some buildings of Kanei-ji Temple in Ueno Park.


From the current viewpoint, Ueno Park is indispensable to the citizens in Tokyo and foreign travelers, moreover, Ueno Park has a strange history that this place has been guarded by an invisible intermediary. I want to write about it dating back to the past.








In the early part of the Meiji era


The statue in the picture is Takamori Saigo, and it is near the entrance of Ueno Park. He was the general of the opposing force against the Tokugawa Bakufu at the end of the Tokugawa period and a famous hero of the Meiji Restoration. His army advanced to nearby the present Imperial Palace, the then Edo Castle of Tokugawa Bakufu. He negotiated with a representative of the Tokugawa Bakufu, Kaishu Katu, and won a no blood opening of the castle. However, there was a samurai group of the Tokugawa Bakufu which deemed the army as the rude fellows which blasphemed against the order made by the Tokugawa Bakufu. The members claimed a battle against the Saigo’s army and fought with them at the present Ueno Park, then Kanei-ji Temple. The samurai group lost the battle and the buildings were burned, at last the field became a burnt ruin.

Kanei-ji Temple was the guardian place for Edo Castle of the Tokugawa Bakufu for over 200 years. The burnt ruin of Kanei-ji Temple instead of Edo Castle was the symbolic event of the end of the Tokugawa Bakufu.

The Meiji government after the end of the Tokugawa Bakufu planned to build a hospital and a medical school at the site. A Dutchman who was appointed the founding leader by the Meiji government took an on-the-spot inspection of the site and he had a different presentation from the plan to the government. It was to build a city park. The members of the government might have been confused with the presentation (it might be that they wanted to erase the memory of the good and relaxing place by the Tokugawa Bakufu), but finally they agreed with his presentation because they thought that the then Japan which had to achieve a western civilization rapidly should have a city park. Finally this decision revitalized the burnt ruin as the first city park and the most popular park in Japan. It looks like a reasonable decision, but maybe it might have been influenced by the invisible intermediary. Well yes, actually, the Mausoleum of Tokugawa shogunates and a few of buildings of Kanei-ji Temple were restored. Now, I will enter into the history of the invisible intermediary.


In the early part of the Tokugawa period


In the Edo period, here was the large precinct of Kanei-ji Temple. Kanei-ji Temple was founded by Tenkai, who was the most important adviser for the then Tokugawa shogunates, especially the founder Ieyasu Tokugawa, and he was a great priest of Tendai Buddhism from Enryaku-ji Temple in Kyoto. He advised Ieyasu how to build a new city with Edo Castle and he placed Kanei-ji Temple on Ueno hill which is the north-east of the castle. Its plan was by the magical intermediary of “onmyodo” which is the reasonable control method of the invisible world. According to the theory of onmyodo the north-east direction of a significant place is the most sinister direction, and it’s necessary to place a guardian building on the north-east line. So then he placed Kanei-ji Temple and he placed Nikko-tosyogu, which is a world heritage site, in present-day Tochigi prefecture as the same theory of onmyodo with the invisible guardian energy of the deity of Ieyasu. In addition, he might have eagerly prayed for the eternal succession of the Tokugawa Bakufu at Kanei-ji Temple. Currently, this fact isn’t known among Japanese people, but it is a historical fact. It’s up to you not to trust the invisible intermediary or to believe it.

Tenkai


What kind of person was Tenkai? There was little record of him.
He learned and practiced Tendai Buddhism in Enryaku-ji Temple. And, he escaped to eastern Japan from it when it was devastated by Nobunaga Oda, and later he called himself Tenkai. Tenkai is “ten” and “Kai” in kanji, “ten” is from Tendai and “Kai” means the sea. Moreover, “ten” means heaven. In those times the highest Buddhist in social opinion was Kukai. Kukai is “ku” and “kai” in kanji. “Ku” means the sky and “Kai” means the sea. Of course “ten”(heaven) is greater than “ku”(the sky), so then his name is greater than Kukai. What was his aim on changing his name? He conceived that he would become greater than Kukai and restore Tendai Buddhism, didn’t he? It sounds strange that he was a great vision maker, doesn’t it?

He approached Ieyasu Tokugawa and became the great adviser. He planned to build Edo City and he built Kanei-ji Temple. He named Ueno hill “Toei-zan” which means the east Hiei-zan( Hiei-zan is the mountain of Tendai Buddhism). In the end he made the third shogunate rebuild Enryaku-ji Temple in Hiei-Zan Mountain. He might have completed his vision, which was the succession of the Tokugawa Bakufu, to build the Tendai temple in Edo and to rebuild Enryaku-ji Temple in Hiei-zan Mountain.

If you find the rebuilt temples or the rebuilt Mausoleum on visiting Ueno Park, your memory of the invisible intermediary will reinforce your joy of your journey.

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