, or, ″the Eastern Monastery of the Original Vow″, is one of two dominant sub-sects of Shin Buddhism in

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 n ...

and abroad, the other being Nishi Honganji (or, 'The Western Temple of the Original Vow'). It is also the name of the head temple of the

Ōtani-ha Ōtani-ha (真宗大谷派, ''Shinshū Ōtani-ha'') is a Japanese Buddhist movement. It belongs to Jōdo Shinshū, also known as Shin Buddhism. The movement has approximately 5.5 million members. The headquarters of Ōtani-ha are in Kyoto,http://w ...

branch of Jōdo Shinshū in

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 c ...

, which was most recently constructed in 1895 after a fire burned down the previous temple.Popular Buddhism In Japan: Shin Buddhist Religion & Culture by Esben Andreasen, pp. 11, 38-39, 101 / University of Hawaii Press 1998, As with many sites in Kyoto, these two complexes have more casual names and are known affectionately in Kyoto as and .

History

Higashi Honganji was established in 1602 by the ''

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 Kamaku ...

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 ...

when he split the Shin sect in two (Nishi Honganji being the other) in order to diminish its power. The temple was first built in its present location in 1658. The temple grounds feature a mausoleum containing the ashes of Shin Buddhism founder

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 o ...

. The mausoleum was initially constructed in 1272 and moved several times before being constructed in its current location in 1670. At the center of the temple is the Founder's Hall, where an image of the temple's founder,

, is enshrined. The hall is one of the largest wooden structures in the world at 76 m (250 ft.) in length, 58 m (190 ft.) in width, and 38 m (125 ft.) in height. The current hall was constructed in 1895. The Amida Hall to the left of the Founder's Hall contains an image 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 ...

along with an image of

Prince Shōtoku , also known as or , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was the son of Emperor Yōmei and his consort, Princess Anahobe no Hashihito, who was also Yōmei's younger half- ...

, who introduced Buddhism to Japan. The hall is ornately decorated with gold leaf and art from the Japanese

Meiji Period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

. The current hall was constructed in 1895. Various parts of Higashi Honganji, including the Founder's Hall and Amida Hall, burned down 4 times during the Japanese

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 character ...

. Monetary assistance was often given to Higashi Honganji by 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 ...

in order to rebuild. The

Great Tenmei Fire Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

in Kyoto caused many temple buildings to burn down in 1788, and the temple was rebuilt in 1797. An accidental fire destroyed many of the temple buildings in 1823 and were rebuilt in 1835. After burning down once again in 1858, the destroyed halls were quickly and temporarily reconstructed for Shinran's 600th Memorial Service in 1861. However, these temporary hall burned down in a city-wide fire caused by the

Kinmon incident The , also known as the , was a rebellion against the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan that took place on August 20 unar calendar: 19th day, 7th month 1864, near the Imperial Palace in Kyoto. History Starting with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1 ...

on July 19, 1864. The temple finally started to rebuild in 1879 after the fall of the

and once conflict caused by the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

of 1868 had settled down. The Founder's Hall and Amida Hall were completed in 1895, with other buildings being restored by 1911. These buildings comprise the current temple. During the twentieth century, Higashi Honganji was troubled by political disagreements, financial scandals and family disputes, and has subsequently fractured into a number of further sub-divisions (see

Ohigashi schism The Ohigashi schism (お東騒動) was a religious schism in the Ōtani-ha (also known as Higashi Honganji) subsect of the Jōdo Shinshū school of Buddhism that occurred in 1969 after a reformist group created internal divisions. History The Dob ...

). The largest Higashi Honganji grouping, the Shinshu Otaniha has approximately 5.5 million members, according to statistics. However within this climate of instability the Higashi Honganji also produced a significant number of extremely influential thinkers, such as Soga Ryojin, Kiyozawa Manshi, Kaneko Daiei and Haya Akegarasu amongst others. File:170216 Higashi Honganji Kyoto Japan10n.jpg, Founder's Hall Gate (Goei-do Mon), built in 1911, width 31 m (103 ft) x height 27 m (90 ft), 59,387 roof tiles File:170216 Higashi Honganji Kyoto Japan01s4.jpg, Founder's Hall (Goei-dō) File:170216 Higashi Honganji Kyoto Japan05n.jpg, Amida Hall

References

{{Authority control 1602 establishments in Japan Jōdo Shin temples Monzeki Pure Land temples Religious organizations established in 1602 *

History

See also

References