is a
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
Zen
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...
temple in
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 ...
,
Kanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...
,
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 belongs to the
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 ...
school of the
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 E ...
sect and is ranked fourth among Kamakura's
Five Mountains. The main objects of worship are the three statues of
Shaka
Shaka kaSenzangakhona ( – 22 September 1828), also known as Shaka Zulu () and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. One of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu, he ordered wide-reaching reforms that ...
,
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
The was a titular post held by a member of the Hōjō clan, officially a regent of the shogunate, from 1199 to 1333, during the Kamakura period, and so he was head of the ''bakufu'' (shogunate). It was part of the era referred to as .
During rou ...
Hōjō Tokiyori
Hōjō Tokiyori (, June 29, 1227 – December 24, 1263) was the fifth shikken (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate in Japan.
Early life
He was born to warrior monk Hōjō Tokiuji and a daughter of Adachi Kagemori.
Rule
Tokiyori became shikken f ...
) 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
of the Hōjō clan was the eighth ''shikken'' (officially regent of the shōgun, but ''de facto'' ruler of Japan) of the Kamakura shogunate (reigned 1268–84), known for leading the Japanese forces against the invasion of the Mongols and fo ...
(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 temple has therefore the distinction of having three official founding priests.
Points of interest
![Hotei, god of happiness at Jōchi-ji temple](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Hotei%2C_god_of_happiness_at_J%C5%8Dchi-ji_temple.jpg)
In her 1918 ''Kamakura: Fact and Legend'',
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 ...
had little to say about Jōchi-ji, other than it was in complete decay. She dedicated to it just a half page. In fact, all you see today is new.
At its peak, the temple was far bigger than now; it comprised 11 buildings and 500 people lived in it, but little is left of the original great temple that was one of Kamakura's Five Mountains. All existing buildings were rebuilt after being lost during the
Great Kantō earthquake
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
.
At the entrance there are a pond, a stone bridge and a gate. To the left there's also the , one of the once-famous . Above the gate stand the four characters , or "The treasure you are looking for is next to you".
After a flight of stone stairs one finds a very unusual feature: the Shōrōmon (鐘楼門), that is a two-storied combination of ''
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 ...
'' (belfry) and ''
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 Shin ...
'' (gate) restored in 2007. The second story holds a bell made in the year 1340.
In the main hall nearby are three images of Buddha (the already-mentioned Amida, Shaka, and Miroku), the
main objects of worship, which guard respectively the past, the present and the future.
Behind the main hall are the graveyard, some bamboo groves, numerous cave graves (the so-called ''
yagura Yagura may refer to:
* Yagura castle
* Yagura opening
* Yagura (tombs)
* Yagura (tower)
is the Japanese word for "tower", "turret", "keep", or "scaffold". The word is most often seen in reference to structures in Japanese castle compounds bu ...
''), and the statue of
Hotei Hotei may refer to:
*Hotei Station, a Japanese train station
*Tomoyasu Hotei, a Japanese musician
*Budai, known as "Hotei" in Japanese, a semi-historical monk and deity
*''Coralliophila hotei
''Coralliophila hotei'' is a species of sea snail, a ...
, the god of good fortune or happiness. After having been touched by generations of Japanese wishing to improve their luck, his belly, his left earlobe and his index finger have been worn smooth.
The street that runs to the left of the front gate leads to the house behind the temple where movie director
Yasujirō Ozu
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in t ...
used to live in the 1950s. It's also the starting point of a 30-minute hiking trail that leads to the
Zeniarai Benten Shrine.
The temple is very near
Kita-Kamakura Station
is a railway station on the Yokosuka Line in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East).
Lines
Kita-Kamakura Station is located on the Yokosuka Line and is also served by Shōnan-Shinjuku Line through services. ...
.
See also
* For an explanation of terms concerning Japanese Buddhism, Japanese Buddhist art, and Japanese Buddhist temple architecture, see the
Glossary of Japanese Buddhism
This is the glossary of Japanese Buddhism, including major terms the casual (or brand-new) reader might find useful in understanding articles on the subject. Words followed by an asterisk (*) are illustrated by an image in one of the photo galle ...
.
References
A Guide to Kamakuraaccessed on March 28, 2008
accessed on March 28, 2008
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jochi-Ji
1280s establishments in Japan
1283 establishments in Asia
Buddhist temples in Kamakura, Kanagawa
Engaku-ji temples
Rinzai temples
13th-century Buddhist temples