, 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 ...
temple belonging to the
Myōshin-ji
is a temple complex in Kyoto, Japan, and head temple of the associated branch of Rinzai Zen Buddhism. The Myōshin-ji school is by far the largest school in Rinzai Zen, approximately as big as the other thirteen branches combined: it contains wit ...
branch of the
Rinzai school of
Japanese Zen,
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
located in the
Aoi ward of the city of
Shizuoka
Shizuoka can refer to:
* Shizuoka Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture
* Shizuoka (city), the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture
* Shizuoka Airport
* Shizuoka Domain, the name from 1868 to 1871 for Sunpu Domain, a predecessor of Shizuoka Prefecture
...
,
Shizuoka Prefecture,
Japan. Its
main image is a statue of
Amida Nyōrai 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 ...
. It was the ''
bodaiji
A in Japanese Buddhism is a temple which, generation after generation, takes care of a family's dead, giving them burial and performing ceremonies in their soul's favor.Iwanami kojien The name is derived from the term , which originally meant jus ...
'' of the
Imagawa clan
was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji by way of the Kawachi Genji. It was a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Ashikaga clan.
Origins
Ashikaga Kuniuji, grandson of Ashikaga Yoshiuji, established himself in ...
, a powerful
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 ...
''
daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominal ...
'' clan. The temple is noted for its
Japanese garden
are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desi ...
, which is a nationally designated
Place of Scenic Beauty; however, the temple is only open to the public for two days each autumn, and it is not possible to view this garden other than during that period.
History
Rinzai-ji was founded in 1536, by
Imagawa Ujichika
was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period. He was the 10th head of the Imagawa clan of Suruga Province.
Ujichika was the son of Imagawa Yoshitada.
He was the husband of Jukei-ni.
Biography
In 1476, Ujichika father, Yoshitada, invaded ...
for his son,
Imagawa Yoshimoto
was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) in the Sengoku period Japan. Based in Suruga Province, he was known as . he was one of the three ''daimyōs'' that dominated the Tōkaidō region.
He died in 1560 while marching to Kyoto to become S ...
, on the site of a villa owned by his mother at the base of Shizuhata Castle. Yoshimoto had been sent into the priesthood as he was the third son, and was not regarded as being in the line of succession. His uncle,
Sessai Chōrō was the founding priest. However, when both of Yoshimoto's elder brothers died, he returned to a secular life and became chieftain of the Imagawa clan after a bloody succession dispute. The temple continued to be used as the ''bodaiji'' for the clan. The temple was burned down in 1568 when the
Takeda clan
The was a Japanese samurai clan active from the late Heian period until the late 16th century. The clan was historically based in Kai Province in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. The clan reached its greatest influence under the rule of Taked ...
of
Kai Province invaded
Suruga Province.
When the young
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 fello ...
was held hostage in
Sunpu by the
Imagawa clan
was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji by way of the Kawachi Genji. It was a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Ashikaga clan.
Origins
Ashikaga Kuniuji, grandson of Ashikaga Yoshiuji, established himself in ...
, he was sent to Rinzai-ji to be tutored by
Sessai Chōrō. During the invasion of Suruga Province by the Takeda clan in 1568, Rinzai-ji was burned down. It was rebuilt by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1582. A number of buildings at the temple date from the
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 characte ...
, including the current
Main Hall and ''
Sanmon
A , also called , is the most important gate of a Japanese Zen Buddhist temple, and is part of the Zen '' shichidō garan'', the group of buildings that forms the heart of a Zen Buddhist temple.JAANUS It can be often found in temples of other de ...
''.
Cultural properties
National Important Cultural Properties
Hondō
The Hondō of Rinzai-ji is an
''irimoya''-style structure from the early 17th century. It has a frontage of 22.7 meters ad a depth of 16.8 meters. It was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1983.
National Place of Scenic Beauty
Rinzai-ji gardens
The
Japanese garden
are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desi ...
at Rinzai-ji became a nationally designated
Place of Scenic Beauty in 1936.
Gallery
File:Rinzai-ji3.jpg, Sanmon
File:Rinzai-ji7.jpg, Hondō
File:Rinzai-ji13.jpg, Rinzai-ji gardens
File:Rinzai-ji15.jpg, Rinzai-ji gardens
See also
*
List of Places of Scenic Beauty of Japan (Shizuoka)
This list is of the Places of Scenic Beauty of Japan located within the Prefecture of Shizuoka.
National Places of Scenic Beauty
As of 1 January 2021, eleven Places have been designated at a national level (including one * Special Place of Sc ...
References
External links
Shizuoka city home page
{{Authority control
Buddhist temples in Shizuoka Prefecture
Rinzai temples
Myoshin-ji temples
Shizuoka (city)
Suruga Province
Important Cultural Properties of Japan
Places of Scenic Beauty