This temple of the Jōdo sect is located in Tsuge, Iga City, near JR Tsuge Station, where the Kansai Main Line and the Kusatsu Line intersect, and close to the Meihan Expressway. The temple’s official name is Heiyōsan Muryōjuin Tokueiji Temple, and its important belief is the Amida Nyorai Buddha. It is the family temple of the Fukuchi family (where the graves of their ancestors are located), which sided with Oda Nobunaga during the Tenshō Iga War (1579-1581).
During the Tenshō Iga War, many temples in Iga were set on fire by Oda Nobunaga, but Tokueiji Temple, the family temple of the Fukuchi clan, survived the fire. According to temple history book, when the Honnōji Incident occurred in 1582 (the year after the Tenshō Iga War), Tokugawa Ieyasu stopped by this temple on June 3, protected by the Iga people led by the Fukuchi clan, as he fled from Sakai in Izumi Province to Okazaki in Mikawa Province. As a token of his appreciation, he donated the land and allowed the temple to use his family crest, Aoi-mon. After Todo Takatora entered Iga, the temple returned the letter of donation to the shoguns and received another donation from the Todo family.
Even today, Aoi-mon crest is still used in the main hall, and a sample of Aoi-mon crest tile is placed in front of the main hall. The ten letters of donation, the Sekizou-houtouintou (石造宝篋印塔, stone pagoda), and the Bonshou-shourou (梵鐘鐘楼, bell tower) are designated as cultural assets by Iga City.
There are various theories about the route of the “Shinkun Iga Goe” in the history books such as “徳川実紀Tokugawa Jikki” and “石川忠総留書 Ishikawa Tadahusa Tomegaki”, but all of them say that the route passed around Tokueiji Temple, but the detailed historical facts are unknown.
