is a Shingon-sect

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...

in the Sowamachi neighborhood of the city of

Takayama, Gifu file:高山市役所.JPG, Takayama City Hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 88,473 in 35,644 households, and a population density of 41 persons per km2. The total area of ...

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 ...

. It is one of the few surviving

provincial temple were Buddhist temples established in each of the provinces of Japan by Emperor Shōmu during the Nara period (710 – 794). History Shōmu (701 – 756?) decreed both a ''kokubun-ji'' for monks and a for nuns to be established in each ...

s established by

Emperor Shōmu was the 45th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 聖武天皇 (45)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Shōmu's reign spanned the years 724 through 749, during the Nara period. Traditional narrative Be ...

during the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...

(710 – 794). Due to this connection, the foundation stones of the Nara period

pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

located on temple grounds were designated as a National Historic Site in 1929.

History

The ''

Shoku Nihongi The is an imperially-commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 797, it is the second of the ''Six National Histories'', coming directly after the '' Nihon Shoki'' and followed by ''Nihon Kōki''. Fujiwara no Tsugutada and Sugano no Mamichi ...

'' records that in 741, as the country recovered from a major smallpox epidemic,

ordered that a monastery and nunnery be established in every

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

, the . The Hida Kokubun-ji is located in downtown Takayama, a short distance from

Takayama Station is a railway station on the Takayama Main Line in the city of Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan, operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). Lines Takayama Station is served by the JR Central Takayama Main Line, and is located 136. ...

. The exact date of construction is believed to be around 757, over 15 years from the foundation of the provincial temple system in 741. The temple claims that it was founded by the famed wandering prelate

Gyōki was a Japanese Buddhist priest of the Nara period, born in Ōtori county, Kawachi Province (now Sakai, Osaka), the son of Koshi no Saichi. According to one theory, one of his ancestors was of Korean descent. Gyōki became a monk at Asuka-dera, ...

without any historical evidence. However, records indicate that the original temple burned down in 819 and was rebuilt in 855. The existing

Hondō 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 t ...

dates from the

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 ...

. It is a National Important Cultural Property The 7-story pagoda also dates from the same period, burned down during the Ōei period and was reconstructed again in 1585. It was burned down again in the battles between Kanemori Nagachika and Anegakoji Yoritsuna and a 3-story pagoda was built in its place in 1615. This structure also burned down in 1791 and was rebuilt in 1820. In 1695, when Takayama Castle was destroyed, the Hida Kokubun-ji inherited some of its structures, including the main gate.

Listed cultural properties

* National Important Cultural Property (ICP)s **

, built in mid-Muromachi period **Seated statue of Yakushi Nyōrai,

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

**Standing statue of

Kannon Bosatsu Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She ...

, Heian period **

Tachi A is a type of traditionally made Japanese sword (''nihonto'') worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. ''Tachi'' and ''katana'' generally differ in length, degree of curvature, and how they were worn when sheathed, the latter depending on t ...

sword, donated by the Ena clan *Gifu Prefecture ICPs **Seated statue of

Amida Nyorai Amida can mean : Places and jurisdictions * Amida (Mesopotamia), now Diyarbakır, an ancient city in Asian Turkey; it is (nominal) seat of : ** The Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Amida ** The Latin titular Metropolitan see of Amida of the Ro ...

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 ...

**Standing statue of Fudō Myō-ō, Kamakura period ** 3-story Pagoda,

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 ...

*Takayama City ICP **

Bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

gate **Plaque on rear gate *National

Natural monument A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. Under World Commission on Protected Areas guidelines, nat ...

Ginkgo biloba ''Ginkgo biloba'', commonly known as ginkgo or gingko ( ), also known as the maidenhair tree, is a species of tree native to China. It is the last living species in the order Ginkgoales, which first appeared over 290 million years ago. Fossils ...

tree, estimated age of 1250 years

Gallery

Hondo Hall of Hida-Kokubunji Temple in a snowy day.JPG, Hondō (ICP) Bell Tower Gate of Hida-kokubunji temple 01 - Sep 24, 2018.jpg, Bell Tower Gate Big Ginkgo Tree in Hida Kokubun-ji.jpg, Ginkgo biloba

References

External links

*
Gifu prefecture official site
{{Authority control Buddhist temples in Gifu Prefecture Historic Sites of Japan Takayama, Gifu Hida Province Important Cultural Properties of Japan Wooden buildings and structures in Japan 8th-century establishments in Japan Nara period 8th-century Buddhist temples Kōyasan Shingon temples Religious organizations established in the 8th century

History

Listed cultural properties

Gallery

See also

References

External links