is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

located in Sōraku District, Kyoto Prefecture,

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 n ...

. the town has an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...

of 1,053. The total area is 23.52 km². Sights include Kasagiyama Prefectural Natural Park.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data,Kasagi population statistics
/ref> the population of Kasagi has declined in recent decades.

Kasagidera

is a

Shingon 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. Kn ...

sect Buddhist temple in Kasagi. The Honzon is the bodhisattva

Maitreya Maitreya (Sanskrit: ) or Metteyya (Pali: ), also Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha, is regarded as the future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. As the 5th and final Buddha of the current kalpa, Maitreya's teachings will be aimed a ...

. The temple is said to have been founded by

Emperor Kōbun was the 39th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 弘文天皇 (39)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 53. Kōbun's reign lasted on ...

or Emperor Tenmu. Historically it has had close relations with

Tōdai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex that was once one of the powerful Nanto Shichi Daiji, Seven Great Temples, located in the city of Nara, Nara, Nara, Japan. Though it was originally founded in the year 738 CE, Tōdai-ji was not opened until the year ...

and

Kōfuku-ji is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples in the city of Nara, Japan. The temple is the national headquarters of the Hossō school. History Kōfuku-ji has its origin as a temple that was established in 669 b ...

in Nara. It is an important temple in the history of Buddhism in Japan, and many eminent monks have served as abbot. According to legend, the annual

Omizutori ''Omizutori'' (), or the annual, sacred water-drawing festival, is a Japanese Buddhist festival that takes place in the Nigatsu-dō of Tōdai-ji, Nara, Japan. The festival is the final rite in observance of the two-week-long Shuni-e ceremony ...

ceremony at Tōdai-ji was begun by the monk

Jitchū (?–824) was a Buddhist monk in Nara Japan of the Kegon sect, and pupil of Roben. In his later years, Jitchu oversaw the expansion of Tōdai-ji temple, and introduced liturgy and rituals still used today. The most noteworthy of these ceremonie ...

after he discovered a passage here that led to the heavenly home of Maitreya.

References

External links

*
Kasagi official website
Towns in Kyoto Prefecture {{Kyoto-geo-stub