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Kongōrin-ji
, also known as (from its location) is a Buddhist temple of the Tendai sect located in the town of Aishō, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. The ''honzon'' of the temple is Kannon Bosatsu. The temple was founded in the early Heian period and together with Saimyō-ji in Kōra and Hyakusai-ji in Higashiōmi the temple forms a group of three temples known as . The complex includes a Main Hall that is designated as National Treasures, which contains many statues from the Heian period onwards which are Important Cultural Properties and a garden designated as National Place of Scenic Beauty. History The foundation of Kongōrin-ji is not certain. According to the temple's legend, it was founded by Gyōki at the request of Emperor Shōmu in 737 or 741AD, but there is no documentary evidence to corroborate this. The area in which the temple was built was under the control of the powerful Hata clan, an immigrant clan active in Japan since the Kofun period, and the clan was in no doubt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aishō, Shiga
280px, Kongōrin-ji Hondō, a National Treasure is a town located in Echi District in eastern Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 21,411 in 8310 households and a population density of 940 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography Aishō is located in east-central Shiga Prefecture in the flatlands of the Ōmi Basin. Surrounding municipalities Shiga Prefecture * Hikone * Higashiōmi * Kōra * Taga * Toyosato Climate Aishō has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Aishō is 12.9 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1810 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around 1.3 °C. Demographics Per Japanese census data, the population of Aishō has grown slightly over the past 50 years. History The ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyakusai-ji
is a Buddhist temple in the Hyakusaiji neighborhood of the city of Higashiōmi, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. It belongs to the Tendai school of Japanese Buddhism, and together with Kongōrin-ji and Saimyō-ji is regard as one of the "Three Great Temples" east of Lake Biwa. It was designated a National Historic Site in 2008. History Hyakusai-ji is located on the western flank of the Suzuka Mountains, east of Lake Biwa. According to the temple, Prince Shotoku erected this temple in 606 AD after his tutor from Goguryeo, the monk Hyeja, found a cedar tree in the mountains glowing with a mysterious light. The prince carved an image of an eleven-faced Kannon Bosatsu directly into the living wood of the tree and had a hall built around it. Although Hyeja was from Goguryeo, the temple is named after the Korean kingdom of Baekje as the layout of the temple was patterned after the temple of Ryuun-ji in that kingdom. However, the first appearance of the temple in the historical document ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saimyō-ji (Kora)
, also known as or as is a Buddhist temple of the Tendai sect located in the town of Kōra, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. The ''honzon'' of the temple is Yakushi Nyōrai, the Buddha of healing. The temple was founded in the early Heian period and together with Kongōrin-ji in Aishō and Hyakusai-ji in Higashiōmi the temple forms a group of three temples known as . The complex includes several National Treasures and a garden designated as National Place of Scenic Beauty. History The foundations of Saimyō-ji are uncertain. According to the temple's legend, in the year 834, the monk Sanshū, while on a meditative walk along the western shore of Lake Biwa, saw purple clouds are a good omen in Mahayana Buddhist mythology in the eastern sky across the lake. A dazzling light suddenly appeared. The monk, interpreting this phenomenon as a sign of celestial power, crossed the lake and found a pond from which the light emitted. In response to his prayers, he had a vision of Nikkō ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, and Taiwan in the south. Japan is a part of the Ring of Fire, and spans Japanese archipelago, an archipelago of List of islands of Japan, 6852 islands covering ; the five main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu (the "mainland"), Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa Island, Okinawa. Tokyo is the Capital of Japan, nation's capital and largest city, followed by Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kobe, and Kyoto. Japan is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eleventh most populous country in the world, as well as one of the List of countries and dependencies by population density, most densely populated and Urbanization by country, urbanized. About three-fourths of Geography of Japan, the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kajō
, also romanized as Kashō, was a after ''Chōji'' and before ''Tennin (era), Tennin.'' This period spanned the years from April 1106 through August 1108. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * February 6, 1106 : The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events. The previous era ended and the new one commenced in ''Chōji'' 3, on the 9th day of the 4th month of 1106. Events of the ''Kajō'' era * October 3, 1106 (''Kajō 1''): Petitions seeking mitigation of "evil influences on the Emperor" were presented at major Shinto shrines. * August 19, 1107 (''Kajō 1, 19th day of the 7th month''): In the 21st year of Emperor Horikawa''-tennō''s reign (堀河天皇21年), the emperor died at the age of 29; and the succession (''senso'') was received by his only son. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Toba is said to have acceded to the throne (''sokui'').Titsingh p. 178 Brown, pp. 320; Varley, p. 44; a distinct act of ''senso'' is unrecognized prior to Emperor Ten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hata Clan
was an immigrant clan active in Japan since the Kofun period (250–538), according to the history of Japan laid out in '' Nihon Shoki''. ''Hata'' is the Japanese reading of the Chinese surname ''Qin'' () given to the State of Qin and the Qin dynasty (the ancestral name was Ying), and to their descendants established in Japan. The ''Nihon Shoki'' presents the Hata as a clan or house, and not as a tribe; only the members of the head family had the right to use the name of Hata. The Hata can be compared to other families who came from the continent during the Kofun period: the descendants of the Chinese Han dynasty, through Prince Achi no Omi, ancestor of the Aya clan, the Sakanoue clan, the Tamura clan, the Harada, and the Akizuki clan, as well as the descendants of the Chinese Cao Wei Dynasty through the Takamuko clan. Origins The Hata are said to have come to Japan from China through the Chinese Lelang Commandery, then through the Kingdom of Baekje (both on the Korean pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kofun Period
The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is the earliest era of recorded history in Japan, but studies depend heavily on archaeology since the chronology of historical sources tends to be distorted. The word '' kofun'' is Japanese for the type of burial mound dating from this era. It was a period of cultural import. Continuing from the Yayoi period, the Kofun period is characterized by influence from China and the Korean Peninsula; archaeologists consider it a shared culture across the southern Korean Peninsula, Kyūshū and Honshū. On the other hand, the most prosperous keyhole-shaped burial mounds in Japan during this period were approximately 5,000 in Japan from the middle of the 3rd century in the Yayoi period to the 7th century in the Asuka period, and many of them had huge t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ennin
, better known in Japan by his posthumous name, Jikaku Daishi (), was a priest of the Tendai school of Buddhism in Japan, and its third . Ennin was instrumental in expanding the Tendai Order's influence, and bringing back crucial training and resources from China, particularly esoteric Buddhist training and Pure Land teachings. Birth and origin He was born into the Mibu () family in present-day Tochigi Prefecture, Japan and entered the Buddhist priesthood at Enryaku-ji on Mt. Hiei (Hieizan) near Kyoto at the age of 14. Trip to China In 838, Ennin was in the party which accompanied Fujiwara no Tsunetsugu's diplomatic mission to the Tang dynasty Imperial court. The trip to China marked the beginning of a set of tribulations and adventures which he documented in his journal. The journal describes an account of the workings of the government of China, which saw strong and able administrative control of the state and its provinces, even at a time of a supposed decline of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shingon
file:Koyasan (Mount Koya) monks.jpg, Shingon monks at Mount Koya is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asia, originally spread from India to China through traveling monks such as Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra. Known in Chinese as the Tangmi (; the Esoteric School in Tang Dynasty of China), these esoteric teachings would later flourish in Japan under the auspices of a Buddhist monk named Kūkai (), who traveled to Tang China to acquire and request transmission of the esoteric teachings. For that reason, it is often called Japanese Esoteric Buddhism, or Orthodox Esoteric Buddhism. The word ''shingon'' is the Kan-on, Japanese reading of the Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese word ('), which is the translation of the Sanskrit word ("mantra"). History Shingon Buddhist doctrine and teachings arose during the Heian period (794-1185) after a Buddhist monk named Kūkai traveled to China in 804 to study Esote ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kamakura Period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle between the Taira and Minamoto clans. The period is known for the emergence of the samurai, the warrior caste, and for the establishment of feudalism in Japan. During the early Kamakura period, the shogunate continued warfare against the Northern Fujiwara which was only defeated in 1189. Then, the authority to the Kamakura rulers waned in the 1190s and power was transferred to the powerful Hōjō clan in the early 13th century with the head of the clan as regent (Shikken) under the shogun which became a powerless figurehead. The later Kamakura period saw the invasions of the Mongols in 1274 and again in 1281. To reduce the amount of chaos, the Hōjō rulers decided to decentralize power by allowing two imperial lines – Northern and Southern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Important Cultural Property (Japan)
An The term is often shortened into just is an item officially classified as Tangible Cultural Property by the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs ( Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) and judged to be of particular importance to the history, arts, and culture of the Japanese people. Classification of Cultural Properties To protect the cultural heritage of Japan, the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties was created as a under which important items are appropriated as Cultural Properties,In this article, capitals indicate an official designation as opposed to a simple, unofficial definition, e.g "Cultural Properties" as opposed to "cultural properties". thus imposing restrictions to their alteration, repair and export. Besides the "designation system", there exists a , which guarantees a lower level of protection and support to Registered Cultural Properties. Cultural Properties are classified according to their nature. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Main Hall (Japanese Buddhism)
Main hall is the building within a Japanese Buddhist temple compound ('' garan'') which enshrines the main object of veneration.Kōjien Japanese dictionary Because the various denominations deliberately use different terms, this single English term translates several Japanese words, among them ''butsuden'', ''butsu-dō'', ''kondō'', ''konpon-chūdō'', and ''hondō''. ''Hondō'' is its exact Japanese equivalent, while the others are more specialized words used by particular sects or for edifices having a particular structure. Kondō (Asuka and Nara periods) The term started to be used during the Asuka and Nara periods. A ''kondō'' is the centerpiece of an ancient Buddhist temple's ''garan'' in Japan. The origin of the name is uncertain, but it may derive from the perceived preciousness of its content, or from the fact that the interior was lined with gold. This is the name used by the oldest temples in the country.Iwanami Nihonshi Jiten A ''kondō'', for example Hōryū-ji's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
