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Jōchi-ji
is a Buddhist Zen temple in Kita-Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It belongs to the Engaku-ji school of the Rinzai sect and is ranked fourth among Kamakura's Five Mountains. The main objects of worship are the three statues of Shaka, Miroku and Amida Nyorai visible inside the main hall. History Officially, the temple was founded in 1283 by Hōjō Munemasa (1253–1281) (son of the fifth Shikken Hōjō Tokiyori) and his son Hōjō Morotoki (1275–1311). However, because the temple opened the year Munemasa died at just 29 and because of Morotoki's age at the time, it's likely that his wife and Munemasa's younger brother Hōjō Tokimune (1251–1284) had a hand in directing its building and its opening. Priest Nanshu Kōkai (a.k.a. Shin’o Zenji) was invited to open the temple but, feeling too young and not up to the task, he asked the Hōjōs to nominate also Gottan Funei and Daikyu Shonen, both Chinese Zen masters that had come to Japan invited by Hōjō Tokiyori. The te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Five Mountain System
The system, more commonly called simply ''Five Mountain System'', was a network of state-sponsored Chan (Zen) Buddhist temples created in China during the Southern Song (1127–1279). The term "mountain" in this context means "temple" or "monastery", and was adopted because many monasteries were built on isolated mountains. The system originated in India and was later adopted also in Japan during the late Kamakura period (1185–1333). In Japan, the ten existing "Five Mountain" temples (five in Kyoto and five in Kamakura, Kanagawa) were both protected and controlled by the shogunate.Iwanami Nihonshi Jiten, ''Gozan''. In time, they became a sort of governmental bureaucracy that helped the Ashikaga shogunate stabilize the country during the turbulent Nanboku-chō period. Below the ten ''Gozan'' temples there were ten so-called temples, followed by another network called . The terms ''Gozan'' and Five Mountain System are used both for the ten temples at the top and for the Five M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yamanouchi, Kamakura
is a neighborhood of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Because of the presence of East Japan Railway Company's (JR) Kita-Kamakura Station, it is better known as Kita-Kamakura. It lies within the Ofuna administrative subdivision of the city of Kamakura. History Yamanouchi used to be the northern border of the city during the shogunate.Ōnuki (2008:50) The border post was about a hundred meters from today's Ōfuna Station. The name of the area during the Kamakura shogunate used to be . During the Muromachi period Yamanouchi also gave its name to the Yamanouchi branch of the Uesugi clan. The land where the station itself stands used to be part of Engaku-ji, but it was expropriated during the Meiji period to let the Yokosuka Line pass through. The area nonetheless has not changed much, and is still visually an integral part of the temple. Within it, under the road next to the bridge on the Meigetsu river, was buried a famous and magical stele, the . According to the legend, it wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kita-Kamakura
is a neighborhood of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Because of the presence of East Japan Railway Company's (JR) Kita-Kamakura Station, it is better known as Kita-Kamakura. It lies within the Ofuna administrative subdivision of the city of Kamakura. History Yamanouchi used to be the northern border of the city during the shogunate.Ōnuki (2008:50) The border post was about a hundred meters from today's Ōfuna Station. The name of the area during the Kamakura shogunate used to be . During the Muromachi period Yamanouchi also gave its name to the Yamanouchi branch of the Uesugi clan. The land where the station itself stands used to be part of Engaku-ji, but it was expropriated during the Meiji period to let the Yokosuka Line pass through. The area nonetheless has not changed much, and is still visually an integral part of the temple. Within it, under the road next to the bridge on the Meigetsu river, was buried a famous and magical stele, the . According to the legend, it wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kamakura
is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamakura was the ''de facto'' capital of Japan from 1185 to 1333 as the seat of the Kamakura Shogunate, and became the nation's most populous settlement during the Kamakura period. Kamakura is a popular domestic tourist destination in Japan as a coastal city with a high number of seasonal festivals, as well as ancient Buddhist and Shinto shrines and temples. Geography Surrounded to the north, east, and west by hills and to the south by the open water of Sagami Bay, Kamakura is a natural fortress. Before the construction of several tunnels and modern roads that now connect it to Fujisawa, Ofuna ( ja) and Zushi, on land it could be entered only through narrow artificial passes, among which the seven most important were called , a name some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rinzai
The Rinzai school ( ja, , Rinzai-shū, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (along with Sōtō and Ōbaku). The Chinese Linji school of Chan was first transmitted to Japan by Myōan Eisai (1141 –1215). Contemporary Japanese Rinzai is derived entirely from the Ōtōkan lineage transmitted through Hakuin Ekaku (1686–1769), who is a major figure in the revival of the Rinzai tradition. History Rinzai is the Japanese line of the Chinese Linji school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Linji Yixuan (Japanese: Rinzai Gigen). Kamakura period (1185–1333) Though there were several attempts to establish Rinzai lines in Japan, it first took root in a lasting way through the efforts of the monk Myōan Eisai. In 1168, Myōan Eisai traveled to China, whereafter he studied Tendai for twenty years. In 1187, he went to China again, and returned to establish a Linji lineage, which is known in Japan as Rinzai. Decades ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Engaku-ji
, or Engaku-ji (円覚寺), is one of the most important Zen Buddhist temple complexes in Japan and is ranked second among Kamakura's Five Mountains. It is situated in the city of Kamakura, in Kanagawa Prefecture to the south of Tokyo. Founded in 1282 (Kamakura period, the temple maintains the classical Japanese Zen monastic design, and both the Shariden and the are designated National Treasures. Engaku-ji is one of the twenty-two historic sites included in Kamakura's proposal for inclusion in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. It is located in Kita-Kamakura, very close to Kita-Kamakura Station on the Yokosuka Line, and indeed the railway tracks cut across the formal entrance to the temple compound, which is by a path beside a pond which is crossed by a small bridge. History The temple was founded in 1282 by a Chinese Zen monk Mugaku Sōgen (1226-1286) at the request of the then ruler of Japan, the regent Hōjō Tokimune after he had repelled a Mongolian invasion in the pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shōrō
The two main types of bell tower in Japan The or is the bell tower of a Buddhist temple in Japan, housing the temple's . It can also be found at some Shinto shrines which used to function as temples (see article '' Shinbutsu shūgō''), as for example Nikkō Tōshō-gū. Two main types exist, the older , which has walls, and the more recent or , which does not. History During the Nara period (710–794), immediately after the arrival of Buddhism in Japan bell towers were 3 x 2 bay, 2 storied buildings. A typical temple '' garan'' had normally two, one to the left and one to the right of the ''kyōzō'' (or ''kyō-dō''), the sūtra repository. An extant example of this style is Hōryū-ji's Sai-in Shōrō in Nara (see photo in the gallery). During the following Heian period (794–1185) was developed a new style called ''hakamagoshi'' which consisted of a two storied, hourglass-shaped building with the bell hanging from the second story. The earliest extant example is H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rōmon
The is one of two types of two-storied gate used in Japan (the other one being the ''nijūmon'', see photo in the gallery below). Even though it was originally developed by Buddhist architecture, it is now used at both Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. Its otherwise normal upper story is inaccessible and therefore offers no usable space. It is in this respect similar to the ''tahōtō'' (a two-storied pagoda) and the multi-storied pagoda, neither of which offers, in spite of appearances, usable space beyond the first story. In the past, the name also used to be sometimes applied to double-roof gates. This extremely common single-roof gate was developed from the double-roofed ''nijūmon'', replacing the flanking roof above the first floor with a very shallow balcony with a balustrade that skirts the entire upper story. Therefore, while the ''nijūmon'' has a series of brackets ('' tokyō'') supporting the roof's eaves both at the first and at the second story, in the ''rōmon' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gohonzon
is a generic term for a venerated religious object in Japanese Buddhism. It may take the form of a scroll or statuary. The term typically refers to the mainstream use of venerated objects within Nichiren Buddhism, referring to the calligraphic paper mandala inscribed by the 13th Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren to which devotional chanting is directed. Linguistically, the rootword derives from ancient word , signifying a devotional object of respect or worship, and with the honorific prefix. Varying Nichiren groups accord their own meanings to the term in different ways, signifying their treatment of the object: * "Object of Devotion" — Soka Gakkai * "Object of Worship" — Nichiren Shōshū * "The Great Mandala, Venerated Supreme" — Nichiren-shū sects Paper scroll are sometimes known as or . The term is used for statuary. are often enshrined within an altar shrine (). Description Nichiren himself attached the greatest importance to his inscripti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Budai
Budai ( zh, c=布袋, p=Bùdài; ko, 포대, Podae; ja, 布袋, Hotei; vi, Bố Đại) was a Chinese monk who is often identified with and venerated as Maitreya Buddha in Chan Buddhism. With the spread of Chan Buddhism, he also came to be venerated in Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. He is said to have lived around the 10th century CE in the Wuyue kingdom. His name literally means "cloth sack", and refers to the bag that he is conventionally depicted as carrying as he wanders aimlessly. His jolly nature, humorous personality, and eccentric lifestyle distinguish him from most Buddhist masters or figures. He is almost always shown smiling or laughing, hence his nickname in Chinese, the "Laughing Buddha". As he is traditionally depicted as overweight and many stories surrounding Budai involve his love of food and drink, he is also referred to as the "Fat Buddha", especially in the Western world. The main textual evidence pointing to Budai resides in a collection of Chan Buddhist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yagura (tombs)
are artificial caves used during the Middle Ages in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, as tombs and cenotaphs.Kamakura Shōkō Kaigijo, (2008, 35–38)Kawano (2005: 171) It is likely that they were used only as tombs in the beginning, and were later used as cenotaphs. The dead are mostly from the samurai class, but the names of priests and artisans have also been found.Kawano (2005: 173) These tombs are extremely numerous in the hills surrounding Kamakura, and estimates of their number range from 1,500 to over 5,000. The total number will remain unknown, as many have been destroyed and others may not yet have been found. ''Yagura'' can be found either isolated, as in the case of the ''Harakiri Yagura'', or in clusters of almost 200 caves.A Guide to Kamakura, ''Terminology'' Groups of yagura are labeled with the suffix . The most conveniently seen ''yagura'' for most tourists are those at Jufuku-ji, near Kamakura station. Its cemetery has many yagura, including those with the cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iso Mutsu
Countess , born Gertrude Ethel Passingham, was a British writer. She married a Japanese nobleman and diplomat, came with him to Japan in 1910 and lived in Kamakura until her death in 1930.The Japan TimesKamakura: Fact and Legend In 1918 she wrote the classic guide ''Kamakura: Fact and Legend''. She was born in Oxford. Her father was the landlord of Count Hirokichi Mutsu, son of the then Japanese foreign minister Munemitsu Mutsu, who was studying at Cambridge, and they fell in love. His father strongly opposed his wedding a foreigner and a commoner. Her family was contrary to the union too. The two didn't give up and, after his father died, when Hirokichi was appointed Consul in San Francisco, he managed to convince her to join him there. This in spite of the fact they hadn't met in over five years. Because he was a diplomat, marriage still had to wait, and to stay with him she finally had to pretend to be a child's governess. It was with that role that she first arrived in Jap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
