is a

Jōdo Shinshū , also known as Shin Buddhism or True Pure Land Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism. It was founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran. Shin Buddhism is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan. History Shinran ( ...

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 ...

temple in the Shimogyō ward of

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

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 serves as the head temple of the sub-sect

Honganji-ha Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha (official name), commonly called Honganji-ha, is a Japanese Buddhist organization. It is a sub-sect within Jodo Shinshu. Its head temple is Nishi Hongan-ji is a Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist temple in the Shimogyō ward of ...

. It is one of two

temple complexes in Kyoto, the other being Higashi Hongan-ji, which is the head temple of the sub-sect Ōtani-ha. Established in its current location in 1591, the origin of the temple goes back to the 14th century. Many of its building have survived from the Azuchi-Momoyama and early

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, making it a great example of the Japanese architecture from the 17th and 18th centuries. A total of seven Nishi Hongan-ji structures have been designated

National Treasures National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

in three different categories: the karamon, Goei-dō and Amida hall ( temple buildings), the Flying Cloud Pavilion,

shoin is a type of audience hall in Japanese architecture that was developed during the Muromachi period. The term originally meant a study and a place for lectures on the sūtra within a temple, but later it came to mean just a drawing room or stu ...

and the Black study hall, including the Denrō gallery (

residences A residence is a place (normally a building) used as a home or dwelling, where people reside. Residence may more specifically refer to: * Domicile (law), a legal term for residence * Habitual residence, a civil law term dealing with the status ...

) and the north

Noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...

stage ( miscellaneous structure). Nishi Hongan-ji was designated a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

in 1994, as part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto.

History

The original

Hongan-ji , also archaically romanized as Hongwanji, is the collective name of the largest school of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism (which further sub-divides into the Nishi and Higashi branches). 'Hongan-ji' may also refer to any one of several actual temple bui ...

was established as a temple in 1321, on the site of the Ōtani Mausoleum, where

Shinran ''Popular Buddhism in Japan: Shin Buddhist Religion & Culture'' by Esben Andreasen, pp. 13, 14, 15, 17. University of Hawaii Press 1998, was a Japanese Buddhist monk, who was born in Hino (now a part of Fushimi, Kyoto) at the turbulent close of ...

, the founder of the

("True Pure Land") was buried. The mausoleum was attended by Shinran's grandson (through daughter Kakushinni), Kakue. Kakue's own son,

Kakunyo Kakunyo (覚如) (1270-1351) is the great-grandson of Shinran, founder of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism, and the third caretaker, or Monshu of the family mausoleum, which gradually became the Hongan-ji Temple in Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Jap ...

, became the first chief priest of the Hongan-ji and third

monshu The Monshu (門主), or ''keeper of the gate'' is a term sometimes used in Japanese Buddhism to denote the head of a monastery, as in the case of Jōdo-shū and Tendai Buddhism, but in the case of the Nishi Hongan-ji sub-sect of Jōdo Shinshū Bu ...

(spiritual leader), and dedicated it to the worship of

Amitābha Amitābha ( sa, अमिताभ, IPA: ), also known as Amitāyus, is the primary Buddha of Pure Land Buddhism. In Vajrayana Buddhism, he is known for his longevity, discernment, pure perception, purification of aggregates, and deep awarene ...

(''Amida''). The Hongan-ji first gained power and importance in the 15th century, when Rennyo became its eighth monshu. However, the

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese m ...

based on Mount Hiei saw this expansion as a threat and attacked the Hongan-ji three times with their army of sōhei. Rennyo fled to

Yoshizaki-gobō The was a Buddhist temple located in what is the Yoshizaki neighbourhood of the city of Awara, Fukui, Japan. It is known for its connection to Rennyo, the founder of the Ikkō sect of Japanese Buddhism. The ruins of the temple were designated ...

, where he established a new temple compound. During the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

, fearing the power of the monks of the Hongan-ji,

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...

tried to destroy it. For ten years, he laid siege to the Ishiyama Hongan-ji in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, one of the two primary temple fortresses of the sect. In 1580, the abbot of the Ishiyama Hongan-ji, Kennyo, surrendered, while his son Kyōnyo refused to surrender, for which he was publicly disowned. After the death of Nobunaga in 1582 and the ascent of

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

, Kennyo was rewarded for his opposition to Nobunaga by being granted land in Kyoto, at the site of modern-day Nishi Hongan-ji (西本願寺, "Western Hongan-ji"; sometimes called the ''Honpa Hongan-ji'' 本派本願寺). He was succeeded by his legitimate son, Junnyo, as abbot in 1592. While his brother Kyōnyo re-established the Osaka Hongan-ji in 1596 with local support, owing to his refusal to surrender to Nobunaga earlier. After the death of Hideyoshi in 1598, Kyōnyo openly supported

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

, who became ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

'' in 1602. In reward for his loyalty, Kyōnyo was rewarded with land for a temple in Kyoto to the east of Nishi Honganji, which then became known in 1603 as Higashi Honganji (東本願寺 "Eastern Hongan-ji"). In 1619 the government recognized the two entities as separate congregations. It is popularly believed, however mistakenly, that the institution was split in two in order to maintain control of the order. In 1994 Nishi Hongan-ji was listed as a

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

as one of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto .

Architecture

Nishi Hongan-ji occupies almost an entire rectangular area bounded by Hanayachō-dōri (Hanayachō Street) to the north, Horikawa-dōri (Horikawa Street) to the east, Shichijō-dōri (Shichijō Street) to the south, and Shichijō-dōri (Omiya Street) to the west. The main entrance to Nishi Hongan-ji is to the east on Horikawa-dōri. As the name of the temple implies, it is located to the west of Higashi Hongan-ji. Nishi Hongan-ji is older than the latter and has a more integral

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

.Popular Buddhism In Japan: Shin Buddhist Religion & Culture by Esben Andreasen, pp. 11, 38-39, 105 / University of Hawaii Press 1998,

Karamon

The gate of Nishi Hongan-ji was originally built for

Fushimi castle , also known as or Fushimi-Momoyama Castle, is a Japanese castle located in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto. Fushimi Castle was constructed from 1592 to 1594 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi at the end of the Sengoku period as his retirement residence. Fushimi Castle ...

, probably around 1598. After the castle was dismantled in 1623, it was moved to Nishi Hongan-ji in 1632 for a planned visit of

Tokugawa Iemitsu Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光, August 12, 1604 – June 8, 1651) was the third ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada with Oeyo, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lady Kasuga was his wet nurse, who a ...

to the temple.Kirby, John B. (1962). ''From Castle to Teahouse: Japanese Architecture of the Momoyama Period.'' pp. 78. It is designated a

National Treasure The idea of national treasure, like national epics and national anthems, is part of the language of romantic nationalism, which arose in the late 18th century and 19th centuries. Nationalism is an ideology that supports the nation as the fundame ...

, one of six such a structures to hold this distinction. It is constructed as a four-legged gate with '' karahafu'' gables of undulating curves on the front and back. It has a roof in the '' irimoya'' style, a style of

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

sloping down on all four sides and integrated on two opposing sides with a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

. The roof is covered by bark

shingles Shingles, also known as zoster or herpes zoster, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area. Typically the rash occurs in a single, wide mark either on the left or right side of the body or face. ...

made from

hinoki cypress ''Chamaecyparis obtusa'' (Japanese cypress, hinoki cypress or hinoki; ja, 檜 or , ) is a species of cypress native to central Japan in East Asia, and widely cultivated in the temperate northern hemisphere for its high-quality timber and orname ...

. It is also known as the ''Higurashi no Mon'' ("all day gate"), due to the high number and quality of the carving that decorate the gate, including images of flowers, animals and fantastic figures. One of the panels shows the legendary chinese hermit Xu You beside a waterfall, "washing from his ear an offensive proposal from the Emperor Yao". Another one shows a farmer cleaning his ox, "expressing anger at the pollution of the stream". The last two times the gate was opened and visitors were allowed to walk through it were in 1983, during a rite related to the founder of

Buddhism

, and in 2017, prior to the renovation of the gate in 2018. It is also used for occasional visits of the

Imperial Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term pap ...

. The ''karamon'' will not be visible to the public from June 2018 to March 2022 due to renovations. 170216 Nishi Honganji Kyoto Japan06n

Goeidō

The or "Founder's Hall" was rebuilt in 1636, following the destruction of the previous main halls by an earthquake in 1596 and a fire in 1617. It was designated a

in 2014. The building, single-storied, with a ''hongawarabuki'' roof, a tile roof composed of flat broad concave tiles and semi-cylindrical convex tiles covering the seams of the former, in the irimoya style. It measures 62 by 48 metres, with a height on 29 metres. A wooden image of

is enshrined in the central altar, with portraits of the successive head priests (''monshu'') on display alongside. Major ceremonies conducted at Nishi Hongan-ji are usually conducted at this building. Nishi Hongwanji Amidado

Amidadō

The or "Amida Hall" was rebuilt in 1760 as the temple's main worship hall. It was designated a

in 2014. It is a single-storied building with a ''hongawarabuki'' roof in the irimoya style, measuring 45 by 42 metres, with a height on 25 metres. It houses an sculpture of

Amida Buddha Amida can mean : Places and jurisdictions * Amida (Mesopotamia), now Diyarbakır, an ancient city in Asian Turkey; it is (nominal) seat of : ** The Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Amida ** The Latin titular Metropolitan see of Amida of the Roma ...

surrounded by the portraits of six of the seven Pure Land Masters in the central altar, and images of

's master Honen and

Prince Shotoku A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

. Due to renovations, the interior of the ''Amidado'' was not accessible to the public until February 2019, when the front half of the hall was opened. The back half was closed until the end of March 2022, when the restoration work concluded.

Footnotes

:A.The defunct ''

hanamachi A is a district where geisha live and work in Japan. Each typically has its own name, crest, and distinct geisha population, with geisha not typically working outside of their own district. usually contain (geisha houses) and (teahouses whe ...

'' courtesan's district of Shimabara is located directly to the west of the north side of Nishi Hongan-ji along Hanayachō-dōri.

References

Bibliography

* Kirby, John B. (1962)
''From Castle to Teahouse: Japanese Architecture of the Momoyama Period.''
Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing.
OCLC 512972
* Rogers, Minor L and Ann T. (1990)
The Honganji: Guardian of the state (1868–1945)
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 17 (1), 3-28 * Alicia, Matsunaga (1993). ''Foundation of Japanese Buddhism. Vol. II, The mass movement (Kamakura & Muromachi periods).'' Buddhist Books International
OCLC 137242947
{{Authority control 1270s establishments in Japan 1272 establishments in Asia National Treasures of Japan Buddhist temples in Kyoto Pure Land temples * Important Cultural Properties of Japan World Heritage Sites in Japan Historic Sites of Japan 13th-century Buddhist temples Monzeki