The is the ruins of a
Buddhist nunnery located in the city of
Ichihara, Chiba, Japan which was part of the
provincial temple complex ("kokubunji") of former
Kazusa Province.The temple ruins were designated a
National Historic Site in 1983, with the area under protection expanded in 1985.
Overview
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,
Emperor Shōmu ordered that a monastery and nunnery be established in every
province, the .
The Kazusa Kokubun-niji was located on the northern bank of the
Yōrō River, in an area with a high concentration of ''
kofun
are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典』 ...
'' and ancient sites, and is separated from the
Kazusa Kokubun-ji
is a Buddhist temple in Ichihara, Chiba, Japan, belonging to the Shingon-shu Buzan-ha sect, and is the provincial temple ("kokubunji") of former Kazusa Province. The present temple is of uncertain foundation, but claims to be the direct descenda ...
, which was located a short distance to the southwest, by a shallow valley. After several
archaeological excavation
In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...
s starting in 1948, the layout of the temple was confirmed. The total area of the temple complex was 372 meters north-to-south by 285 meters east-to-west, for a total area of 123,000 square meters, making it the largest nunnery in the ''kokubunji'' system yet discovered. The central enclosure, containing the main structures of the nunnery, measured 200 meters north-to-south by 170 meters east-to-west. The foundation stones for the South Gate, Middle Gate,
Kondō, Lecture Hall,
Cloisters,
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 ...
, sutra tower, and the residential building for the nuns have been found. In addition, there are traces of a metal workshop, medicinal plants garden and infirmary. In 1996 the Middle Gate and part of the Cloister were restored, and a museum (the was built on the site to display various artifacts that have been unearthed. It also contains a large diorama showing how the temple complex may originally have looked. The site is a ten-minute walk from the Ichihara City Hall bus stop on the Kominato Railway Bus from
Goi Station on the
JR East
The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...
Uchibo Line.
See also
*
Provincial temple
*
List of Historic Sites of Japan (Chiba)
This list is of the Monuments of Japan, Historic Sites of Japan located within the Prefectures of Japan, Prefecture of Chiba Prefecture, Chiba.
National Historic Sites
As of 1 July 2021, thirty-one Sites have been Cultural Properties of Japan, d ...
References
External links
Prefectural Tourist Information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kazusa Kokubun-niji
Buddhist temples in Chiba Prefecture
Nara period
Ichihara, Chiba
History of Chiba Prefecture
Historic Sites of Japan
Kazusa Province
8th-century establishments in Japan
8th-century Buddhist temples
Buddhist archaeological sites in Japan