A in Japanese Buddhism is a temple which, generation after generation, takes care of a family's dead, giving them burial and performing ceremonies in their soul's favor.Iwanami kojien The name is derived from the term , which originally meant just Buddhist enlightenment (

satori is a Japanese Buddhist term for awakening, "comprehension; understanding". It is derived from the Japanese verb satoru. In the Zen Buddhist tradition, ''satori'' refers to a deep experience of '' kenshō'', "seeing into one's true nature ...

), but which in Japan has also come to mean either the care of one's dead to ensure their welfare after death or happiness in the beyond itself. Several samurai families including the Tokugawa had their ''bodaiji'' built to order, while others followed the example of commoners and simply adopted an existing temple as family temple. Families may have more than one ''bodaiji''. The

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty that was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) through the Matsudaira clan. The early history of this clan r ...

, for example, had two, while the

Ashikaga clan The was a prominent Japanese samurai clan which established the Muromachi shogunate and ruled Japan from roughly 1333 to 1573. The Ashikaga were descended from a branch of the Minamoto clan, deriving originally from the town of Ashikaga ...

had several, both in the Kantō and the

Kansai The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...

areas.

Some famous ''bodaiji''

*The Hōjō clan's

Tōshō-ji was the Hōjō clan's family temple (''bodaiji'') in Kamakura during the Kamakura period. Its founder was Taikō Gyōyū and it was constructed in 1237 by Hōjō Yasutoki in memory of his mother, who had her tomb there. According to the Taihei ...

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. Kamak ...

(

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 bet ...

) (destroyed in 1333) *The Hōjō clan's Hōkai-ji in

(

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

) *The

Ashikaga Ashikaga (足利) may refer to: * Ashikaga clan (足利氏 ''Ashikaga-shi''), a Japanese samurai clan descended from the Minamoto clan; and that formed the basis of the eponymous shogunate ** Ashikaga shogunate (足利幕府 ''Ashikaga bakufu''), a ...

Tōji-in is a Buddhist temple of the Rinzai Tenryū sect located in Kita Ward, Kyoto, Japan, and one of two funeral temples (''bodaiji'') dedicated to Ashikaga Takauji, first ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga dynasty. Its main object of worship is Shakyam ...

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

(

) *

Ashikaga Takauji was the founder and first '' shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate."Ashikaga Takauji" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Murom ...

Chōju-ji is the name of numerous Buddhist temples in Japan. Below is an incomplete list: *Chōju-ji (Kamakura) (official name: Hōkizan Chōju-ji), Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture *Chōju-ji (Konan) is the name of numerous Buddhist temples in Japan. Bel ...

in Kamakura (

) *

Zuisen-ji is a Buddhist temple of the Rinzai sect in Nikaidō's in Kamakura, Japan.Kamiya (2008:98-102) During the Muromachi period it was the family temple of the Ashikaga rulers of Kamakura (the ''Kantō kubō''): four of the five ''kubō'' are burie ...

in Kamakura (

), ''bodaiji'' of the five Ashikaga

Kantō kubō (also called , , or ) was a title equivalent to ''shōgun'' assumed by Ashikaga Motouji after his nomination to ''Kantō kanrei'', or deputy shōgun for the Kamakura-fu, in 1349.Kokushi Daijiten (1983:542) Motouji transferred his original title t ...

, rulers of Kantō during the early Muromachi period *The Tokugawa's

Kan'ei-ji (also spelled Kan'eiji or Kaneiji) is a Tendai Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1625 during the Kan'ei era by Tenkai, in an attempt to emulate the powerful religious center Enryaku-ji, in Kyoto. The main object of worship is .Nihon Re ...

and

Zōjō-ji is a Jōdo-shū Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Japan. It is the main temple of the Jōdo-shū ("Pure Land") Chinzei sect of Buddhism in the Kantō region,. Its mountain name is San'en-zan (三縁山). Zōjō-ji is notable for its relationship wit ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

(

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

) *The

Naitō clan is a Japanese samurai kin group. The clan claims its descent from Fujiwara no Hidesato. The Naitō became ''daimyōs'' during the Edo period. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, ...

Kōmyō-ji Kōmyō-ji ( ja, 光明寺, link=no，) is the name of numerous Buddhist temples in Japan and other East Asian communities, and may refer to: *Kōmyō-ji (Ayabe), a temple in Ayabe, Kyoto Prefecture; see List of National Treasures of Japan (temples ...

in Kamakura (

) *

Kenchū-ji Kenchū-ji (建中寺) is a Jōdo-shū Buddhist temple in Tsutsui, Higashi-ku, Nagoya, central Japan. Starting in the Edo period, the mausoleums of the lords of the Owari Domain were located there, making it the '' Bodaiji'' of the Owari Tokuga ...

in Nagoya *The

Imperial Family A royal family is the immediate family of King, kings/Queen regnant, queens, Emir, emirs/emiras, Sultan, sultans/Sultana (title), sultanas, or raja/rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the ...

Sennyū-ji , formerly written as , is a Buddhist temple in Higashiyama-ku in Kyoto, Japan. For centuries, Sennyū-ji has been a mausoleum for noble families and members of the Imperial House of Japan. Located within the temple grounds are the official tom ...

in Kyoto (mausoleum

Tsuki no wa no misasagi is the name of a mausoleum in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto used by successive generations of the Japanese Imperial Family. The tomb is situated in Sennyū-ji, a Buddhist temple founded in the early Heian period, which was the hereditary temple or of th ...

is situated)

Notes

References

* Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version {{commons category, Bodaiji Japanese words and phrases Cemeteries in Japan * Buddhist temples in Japan

Some famous ''bodaiji''

See also

Notes

References