Hotsumisaki-ji (最御崎寺) is a Shingon Buddhist Temple located in

Muroto, Kōchi 270px, Muroto City Hall 270px, Muroto city center aerial photograph is a city located in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 12,121 in 7079 households and a population density of 49 persons per km2. The total ar ...

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 the 24th temple of the Shikoku Pilgrimage, and the first located in Kochi, representing the start of the "austerity and discipline" (修行, ''shugyō'') stage of the pilgrimage.

History

Unsatisfied with his studies in the city, Kūkai continued to train in the mountains for 5 years from the age of 19 year in the 11th year of Enryaku (792). In his work "

Sangō Shiiki is a dialectic allegory written by Kūkai in 797. It is Japan's oldest comparative ideological critique. At the time of writing, Kūkai was 24 years old. It is his debut work. Contents The text is three volumes in length. It is written in a ...

", he wrote, "I am training in Kochi's Muroto Cape". It is said that he chanted the mantra of the Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha (Kokūzō) in a nearby cave (Mikurodo Cave). According to the temple records, he opened the temple in the 2nd year of

Daidō was a after ''Enryaku'' and before '' Kōnin.'' This period spanned the years from May 806 through September 810. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * November 16, 806 : The new era name was created to mark an event or series o ...

(807), engraving the main deity Kokūzō Bosatsu at the request of Emperor Saga. Initially located at the summit of Shijuji Temple, it was believed to have been moved to its current location sometime during the Kantoku Period (1044-1055). After it was burnt down during a fire, the entire temple complex was rebuilt in the

Genna was a coming after ''Keichō'' and before ''Kan'ei.'' This period spanned the years from July 1615 to February 1624. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1615 : The era name was changed to mark the enthronement of Go-Mizunuoo and beca ...

period (1615 - 1624) with the support of Tadayoshi Yamanouchi, a

daimyo were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominally ...

who was governing

Tosa Domain The was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, controlling all of Tosa Province in what is now Kōchi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Kōchi Castle, and was ruled throughout its history by t ...

at the time. The temple further sustained further damage and destruction under the

Shinbutsu bunri The Japanese term indicates the separation of Shinto from Buddhism, introduced after the Meiji Restoration which separated Shinto ''kami'' from buddhas, and also Buddhist temples from Shinto shrines, which were originally amalgamated. It is a ...

decree during the

Meiji era The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization b ...

, and was reconstructed again in 1914.

Cultural Heritage Objects

Important Cultural Properties

* Marble

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

statue in the half lotus position (late

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. ...

), 82.4cm. In Japan there are many Buddhist stone carvings, but marble carvings are rare. The statue is sitting with the right knee up and the gourd and clothing is delicately carved. * Seated wooden ''Yakushi'' statue (late

) made of wood and lacquer foil, 86.3cm. * Standing '' Gakkō'' statue (late

) made of wood and lacquer foil, 101.6cm. * Two lacquered tables, donated in the first year of the Kōryaku Period (1379).

Kochi Prefecture Designated Cultural Properties

* Round plaque of sitting '' Kokūzō'' bodhisattvas.

Muroto City Designated Cultural Properties

* There are numerous properties.

Access

Train

* Kannoura Station (41.2km) *

Nahari Station is a passenger railway station located in the town of Nahari, Kōchi, Nahari, Aki District, Kōchi, Aki District, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the public-private partnership, third-sector Tosa Kuroshio Railway with the station nu ...

(26.9km)

Bus

Kōchi Tōbu Kōtsū
Bus - Murotomisaki (0.9km)

Car

* Kochi Route 203, Muroto Skyline (0.1km)

References

{{cat improve, date=May 2020 Shingon Buddhism