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Sainenji Temple

東京都

Founded in 1594 by Hattori Hanzo—the Iga ninja chief who gave Hanzomon its name—this Yotsuya temple holds both his grave and the memorial tower of the shogun's son Matsudaira Nobuyasu.

Founded

1594

Type

Temple

Visited

Want to go

Access

10 min walk from JR/Tokyo Metro Yotsuya Station

Wakaba 2-9, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

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Info

Temple

Founded 1594

432 years

Enshrined Deity

阿弥陀如来

Overview

A Jodo-sect temple founded in 1594 by **Hattori Hanzo Masanari (1542-1596)**, a hereditary retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu and one of the **Sixteen Divine Generals of the Tokugawa**, in the Wakaba 2-chome district within walking distance of Yotsuya. Hanzo had served as guardian of **Matsudaira Nobuyasu (1559-1579)**, Ieyasu's eldest son. When Nobuyasu was ordered by Oda Nobunaga to commit seppuku in 1…

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Origins

Jodo-sect temple founded 1594 by Hattori Hanzo Masanari. After failing as executioner at Matsudaira Nobuyasu"s 1579 seppuku, he took the tonsure as Sainen and built Nobuyasu"s memorial tower—the temple"s origin. Nobuyasu"s memorial tower and Hanzo"s grave are Shinjuku Ward-designated historic sites;…

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Divine Benefits

Purification

Rebirth in Pure Land

Cleansing impurity, spiritual purification, driving away evil. Rooted in misogi ablutions and goma fire rites.

Derived from the enshrined deity "阿弥陀如来"

人
Related Figures
— 3

Age 52 at founding

A Jodo-sect temple founded in 1594 by Hattori Hanzo Masanari (1542-1596), a hereditary retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu and one of the Sixteen Divine Generals of the Tokugawa, in the Wakaba 2-chome district within walking distance of Yotsuya. Hanzo had served as guardian of Matsudaira Nobuyasu (1559-1579), Ieyasu's eldest son.

Matsudaira Nobuyasu

The Tragic Tokugawa Heir

Age 35 at founding (posthumous)

This temple originated when Hattori Hanzo, Matsudaira Nobuyasu's guardian, erected a memorial stupa for Nobuyasu after his forced seppuku in 1579; the stupa still stands in the precincts today.

Tokugawa Ieyasu

First Shogun of Edo

Age 51 at founding

Founded by Hattori Hanzo to mourn the tragic forced seppuku of Tokugawa Ieyasu's eldest son Matsudaira Nobuyasu on Oda Nobunaga's order, the temple preserves the family history of Ieyasu's grief over his son's death.

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