is a

Jōdo-shū , also known as Jōdo Buddhism, is a branch of Pure Land Buddhism derived from the teachings of the Japanese ex-Tendai monk Hōnen. It was established in 1175 and is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan, along with Jōdo Shi ...

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...

in the Chitose neighborhood of the city of

Kameoka, Kyoto is a city in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 87,518 in 29,676 households and a population density of 390 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kameoka abuts Kyoto to the east and is loca ...

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 claims to be the successor to 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). Due to this connection, the foundation stones of the Nara period temple now located to the south of the present day complex were designated as a National Historic Site in 1928 with the area under protection extended in 2006.

History

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,

ordered that a monastery and nunnery be established in every

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

, the . These temples were built to a semi-standardized template, and served both to spread Buddhist orthodoxy to the provinces, and to emphasize the power of the

centralized government under the ''

Ritsuryō , , is the historical law system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Chinese Legalism in Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (律令制). ''Kyaku'' (格) are amendments of Ritsuryō, ''Shiki'' (� ...

'' system. The Tanba Kokubun-ji is located is located on an

alluvial fan An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to semiarid climates, but a ...

to the east of the Oi River in the Kameoka Basin. This area was the center of ancient Tanba Province, and in the near vicinity is the

Chitose Kurumazuka Kofun The is a Kofun period burial mound, located in the Chitose neighborhood of the city of Kameoka, Kyoto in the Kansai region of Japan. The tumuli was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1982. It is estimated to have been built in the ...

and the ''

ichinomiya is a Japanese historical term referring to the Shinto shrines with the highest rank in a province. Shrines of lower rank were designated , , , and so forth. ''Encyclopedia of Shinto'' ''Ichi no miya'' retrieved 2013-5-14. The term gave rise t ...

'' of the province, the

Izumo-daijingū is a Shinto shrine in the Chitose neighborhood of the city of Kameoka in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Tanba Province. The main festival of the shrine is held annually on the October 21. Enshrined ''kami'' The prim ...

. The exact date of its construction is unknown but it is believed to be at the end of the Nara period from excavated

roof tile A roof ( : roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of temper ...

s. Per excavations conducted from 1982 to1987, the temple occupied a square compound, 218 meters on each side. The layout of buildings was based on

Hokki-ji – formerly known as and – is a Buddhist temple in Okamoto, Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. The temple's honorary '' sangō'' prefix is , although it is rarely used. The temple was constructed to honor Avalokitesvara, and an 11-faced st ...

Ikaruga, Nara is a town in Ikoma District, Nara, Japan. Ikaruga is home to Hōryū-ji and Hokki-ji, ancient Buddhist temples collectively inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Other ancient temples include Hōrin-ji, also in the vicinity of Hōryū-ji. T ...

and consisted of a Kondō and

Pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

side by side, surrounded by 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 ...

with a Middle Gate, Lecture Hall, and monks quarters. The main hall measured 15.8 by 11.6 meters, and was perhaps a five by four bay structure. The Pagoda was seven-story structure, 15.7 meters on each side. All of its 17 foundation stones have survived. The Lecture Hall overlaps the site of the current temple's Main Hall. It measured 26.8 by 14.9 meters and was a seven by four bay structure. From the style of roof tiles, it appears that the temple was reconstructed at the beginning of 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. ...

and again towards the end of the Heian period. The temple was destroyed by

Akechi Mitsuhide , first called Jūbei from his clan and later from his title, was a Japanese ''samurai'' general of the Sengoku period best known as the assassin of Oda Nobunaga. Mitsuhide was a bodyguard of Ashikaga Yoshiaki and later a successful general under ...

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 ...

, and the existing main hall, Belfry 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 den ...

were rebuilt in 1774 and are all Kameoka City Important Cultural Properties. The Main Hall houses the main image, a statue of Yakushi Nyōrai, which dates from the late Heian period. In the exclave to the northeast of the temple is the ruins of a

Hachiman Shrine A is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the ''kami'' Hachiman. It is the second most numerous type of Shinto shrine after those dedicated to Inari Ōkami (see Inari shrine). There are about 44,000 Hachiman shrines. Originally the name 八幡 was re ...

, which is considered to be the guardian shrine of the Kokubun-ji. It is also included within the National Historic Site designation.

Cultural Properties

National Important Cultural Properties

*, late

, designated a national Important Cultural Property in 1917.

Gallery

File:Tamba-kokubunji hondou-3.jpg, Main Hall, (Kameoka City ICP) File:Tamba-kokubunji shourou-2.jpg, Belfryo (Kameoka City ICP) File:Tamba-kokubunji bonshou.jpg, Bonsho (Kameoka City ICP) File:Tamba-kokubunji enkei-2.jpg, Site of the ancient Tanba Kokubun-ji File:Tamba-kokubunji tou-ato-2.JPG, Foundation stones of the ancient Pagoda

References

External links