is a Buddhist temple belonging to the

Sōtō Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dòngsh� ...

school of Japanese Zen located in the

Takanawa is a neighborhood in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Economy Sony operates the Takanawa Office in Takanawa. Education Minato City Board of Education operates public elementary and junior high schools. Tanakawa 1-chōme 6-27 ban and 2-4-chōme are ...

neighborhood of Minato-ku, near

Sengakuji Station is a railway station in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is entirely owned and operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation, but also serves as the northern terminus of the Keikyu Main Line operated by the private railway operator Keiky ...

and Shinagawa Station,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan. It was one of the three major Sōtō temples in Edo during the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

, and became famous through its connection with the Akō incident of the forty-seven

Rōnin A ''rōnin'' ( ; ja, 浪人, , meaning 'drifter' or 'wanderer') was a samurai without a lord or master during the feudal period of Japan (1185–1868). A samurai became masterless upon the death of his master or after the loss of his master ...

in the 18th century.

History

Sengaku-ji was founded as a small chapel by

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 ...

in 1612 and was initially located in Sotosakura, near modern

Kasumigaseki Kasumigaseki (霞が関, 霞ヶ関 or 霞ケ関) is a district in Chiyoda Ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is the location of most of Japan's cabinet ministry offices. The name is often used as a metonym for the Japanese government bureaucracy, whi ...

. After it was destroyed in the '' Kan'ei'' Fire of 1641, Shōgun

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 ...

ordered the five ''

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 ...

'' clans of

Mori Mori is a Japanese and Italian surname, and also a Persian pet name for Morteza. It is also the name of two clans in Japan, and one clan in India. Italian surname *Barbara Mori, Uruguayan-Mexican actress * Camilo Mori, Chilean painter * Cesare ...

, Asano, Kutsuki, Niwa and Mizutani to rebuild the temple at its present location in Takanawa, but on a much larger scale. As this temple became the Edo ''

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 ...

'' for the Asano clan, after the '' seppuku'' Asano Takumi-no-Kami Naganori for having broken protocol and drawing a sword in the Edo Castle, his funeral and tomb were located here. In 1702, the

forty-seven Rōnin The revenge of the , also known as the or Akō vendetta, is a historical event in Japan in which a band of ''rōnin'' (lordless samurai) avenged the death of their master on 31 January 1703. The incident has since become legendary. It is on ...

led by

Ōishi Kuranosuke Oishi may refer to: * Ōishi (surname), a Japanese surname * Oishi (Philippine brand), a snack company from the Philippines * Oishi Group, a Thai food-and-drink company * Ōishi Station is a railway station on the Hanshin Electric Railway Mai ...

avenged his death and assassinated Kira Kōzuke-no-suke Yoshinaka. After parading Kira's severed head through Edo, they washed it at a well at the temple and presented it on the altar in front of Asano's tomb. They then surrendered to the authorities and were subsequently ordered by the Shōgun to commit ''seppuku''. Their tombs were built at Sengaku-ji next to that of their master. This story became famous through the

Kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance- drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is though ...

epic ''

Chūshingura is the title given to fictionalized accounts in Japanese literature, theater, and film that relate to the historical incident involving the forty-seven ''rōnin'' and their mission to avenge the death of their master, Asano Naganori. Including th ...

'' and their graves became a popular site of pilgrimage. The graves of Asano Naganori and of the "47 ''Rōnin''" were designated a National Historic Site in 1922 Each year on December 14, the temple holds a festival commemorating the 47 ''Rōnin''. The temple maintains a museum displaying the personal belongings of the 47 ''Rōnin'' and displays on the events of the Akō incident. The temple also has the graves of Asano Naganori's widow, Yozen-in (1674-1714) and his younger Asano Nagahiro (1670-1734) who was allowed by the Shogunate to re-establish the Asano clan as a ''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as '' gokenin.'' Howev ...

'' With regards to the graves of the "47 ''Rōnin''", there are actually 48 graves, as the grave of Kayano Shigezane (also known as "Sanpei") is included in their number. Kayano was one of the Asano ''ronin'', but committed suicide before the vendetta took place.

Gallery

Sengakuji temple entrance.jpg, Main gate (seen from the inside) Sengakuji 003.jpg, Grave of Asano Naganori Sengakuji 47 ronin graves.jpg, 47 rōnin graves Sengakuji 201904h.jpg, Museum Sengakuji Gishisai 191214d.jpg, Festival

References

External links

Sengaku-ji - homepage
*National Diet Library

{{Buddhism topics Soto temples Buildings and structures in Minato, Tokyo Buddhist temples in Tokyo Historic Sites of Japan 1612 establishments in Japan