was a Japanese Buddhist temple located on the border of what is now the cities of

Maebashi is the capital city of Gunma Prefecture, in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 335,352 in 151,171 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It wa ...

and Takasaki

Gunma Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima ...

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 was one of the

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) for the purpose of promoting Buddhism as the national religion of Japan and standardising control of the

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial House of Japan. Japanese his ...

rule to the provinces. The temple no longer exists, but the temple grounds were designated as a National Historic Site by the Japanese government in 1926. The ruins of the provincial nunnery, the is adjacent to they site but is not part of the National Historic Site designation.

Overview

Located in the central part of Gunma Prefecture, the temple site is on a plateau between the Someya River and the Ushiike River at the southeastern foot of Mount Haruna, on the south side of the Kan'etsu Expressway. The area contains a number of ancient ruins, including the

Sannō temple ruins is an archaeological site with the ruins of a Buddhist temple located in what is now the Sōja neighborhood of city of Maebashi, Gunma, Japan. The temple no longer exists, but the temple grounds were designated as a National Historic Site by t ...

, which predates the ''kokubunji'' system, and what is believed to be the site of the Kōzuke provincial capital to the east. From 1980 to 1988, excavation and historic site maintenance was carried by the Gunma Prefectural Board of Education, with a second phase taking place from 2012 to 2014. In addition, excavation surveys have been conducted at the site of the Kōzuke Kokubun-niji since 1969, with an excavation survey conducted by the Takasaki City Board of Education in 2016.

History

The exact foundation date of the temple is unknown, but is believed to have been around 741 AD. Per 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 ...

'',

made an offering to the temple in 749 AD, so it mush have been at least partially completed by that time. According to the

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. ...

'' Engishiki'' records dated 927 AD, the temple was accorded 50,000 bundles of rice for its upkeep. It is uncertain when the temple was destroyed. The rebellion of Taira no Masakado (''

Tengyō no Ran The ("War in the Tengyō era" or "Tengyō Disturbance"), or Jōhei Tengyō no Ran refers to the name of a brief medieval Japanese conflict, in which Taira no Masakado rebelled against the central government. He was defeated after 59 days of figh ...

'') in 939 AB may have been a contributing factor, as local records indicate that the temple was extensively damaged by 1030 AD. By the 14th century, the site of the Lecture Hall had become a graveyard, indicating that the temple was much smaller in scale.

Layout

The area of the temple site is estimated to be 220 meters east–west and 235 meters north–south. It followed the standardized "''kokubunji'' layout", with a South Gate, Middle Gate,

Kondō Kondō, Kondo or Kondou (近藤 "near wisteria") is a surname prominent in Japanese culture, although it also occurs in other countries. Notable people with the surname include: * , Japanese ballet dancer * Dorinne K. Kondo, anthropologist * Kon ...

, and Lecture Hall all arranged on the north–south main axis in a straight line, with a pagoda (estimated to be a seven-storied pagoda) on the west side of Kondō. From the left and right of the Kondō was a

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

that connected to the sites of the middle gate.

Gallery

Kouzuke-kokubunji tou.JPG, site of the pagoda Kouzuke-kokubunji kondou.JPG, site of the Lecture Hall

References

External links