Narita-san (成田山 "Narita mountain") Shinshō-ji ( 新勝寺 "New victory temple") is a Shingon Buddhist temple located in central Narita, Chiba, Japan. It was founded in 940 by Kanchō Daisōjō, a disciple of Kōbō Daishi. It is a lead temple in the Chisan branch (Chisan-ha 智山派) of New Shingon (Shingi Shingon 新義真言宗), includes a large complex of buildings and grounds, and is one of the best-known temples in the Kantō region. It is dedicated to Ācala (Japanese:

Fudō myōō or Achala ( sa, अचल, "The Immovable", ), also known as (, "Immovable Lord") or (, "Noble Immovable Lord"), is a wrathful deity and ''dharmapala'' (protector of the Dharma) prominent in Vajrayana Buddhism and East Asian Buddhism., Jp. re ...

("Unmovable Wisdom King")) who is usually depicted holding a sword and rope and surrounded by flames. Often called a fire god, he is associated with fire rituals.

Founding

The temple was established in 940 to commemorate the victory of the forces dispatched from the Heian capital to suppress a revolt by the powerful Kantō region

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

Taira no Masakado was a Heian period provincial magnate ('' gōzoku'') and samurai based in eastern Japan, notable for leading the first recorded uprising against the central government in Kyōto. Early life Masakado was one of the sons of Taira no Yoshimas ...

. The Shingon priest Kanchō accompanied the force, bringing with him an image of Acala from the Gomadō (Fire Offering Hall) of Takao-san

Jingo-ji is a Buddhist temple in Kyoto. It stands on Mount Takao to the northwest of the center of the city. The temple adheres to Shingon Buddhism. Its principal image is a statue of Bhaisajyaguru (''Yakushi Nyorai''), the Buddha of Healing or "Medicin ...

in Kyōtō. Shingon founder Kōbō Daishi himself was said to have carved the image and used it in

Goma Goma is the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the ...

sacred fire rituals that helped stop a rebellion during his era. The rebellion in 940 also came to an end just as Kanchō completed a three-week Goma ritual with the same image. According to legend, the image of Acala became too heavy after the victory to move back to its home base, so a new temple on Narita-san, named Shinshō-ji (New Victory Temple), was built to enshrine it on the spot. The temple maintains that the original image is enshrined in the Main Hall, where it is displayed on special occasions, but art historians date the current image to no earlier than the 13th century.

Expansion

For over 600 years, Narita-san remained a remote, humble, provincial temple—until

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 ...

moved his capital to Edo in 1603. Ieyasu himself credited its abbot with converting him to Buddhism, and assigned the local

Sakura Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Shimōsa Province (modern-day Chiba Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Sakura Castle in what is now the city of Sakura, Chiba. It was ruled for most of its hi ...

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 ...

'' to be responsible for its upkeep. The military and political success associated with the temple may also have appealed to him, and the location of the temple, protecting the unlucky northeast approach to his new capital, corresponded to the position of the head temple of 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 ...

sect,

Enryaku-ji is a Tendai monastery located on Mount Hiei in Ōtsu, overlooking Kyoto. It was first founded in 788 during the early Heian period (794–1185) by Saichō (767–822), also known as Dengyō Daishi, who introduced the Tendai sect of Mahayan ...

, relative to the old Heian capital of

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, 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, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

. However, the shogunate did little to support the temple until

Tokugawa Ietsuna was the fourth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan who was in office from 1651 to 1680. He is considered the eldest son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, which makes him the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. E ...

reconstructed its Main Hall in 1655. That building now serves as a calligraphy classroom. Shingon founder Kōbō Daishi (

Kūkai Kūkai (; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835Kūkai was born in 774, the 5th year of the Hōki era; his exact date of birth was designated as the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the Japanese lunar calendar, some 400 years later, by the Shingon se ...

) was famous for his Japanese calligraphy. But the person most responsible for promoting and enriching Narita-san was Ichikawa Danjūrō I (1660–1704), one of the most influential actors of the golden age of

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 ...

. Born into a wealthy merchant family with ties to the Narita area, Danjūrō relished his family's former

status by playing heroic characters doing noble deeds, developing in the process a rough, manly style known as ''

aragoto , or 'rough style', is a style of kabuki acting that uses exaggerated, dynamic (forms or movements) and speech. roles are characterised by the bold red or blue makeup () worn by actors, as well as their enlarged and padded costumes. The term i ...

''. He was also a devout Buddhist with a particular devotion to Fudō myōō, to whom he gave credit for the safe birth of his son Kuzō, who went on to become Ichikawa Danjūrō II (1688–1758). Kuzō played such a ferocious and convincing Fudō in his stage debut in 1697 that the audience responded with prayers and offerings as if they were before a temple deity. In 1703, Danjūrō I wrote and starred in another play specifically about the Fudō at Shinshō-ji, ''The Avatars of the Fudō of Narita Temple,'' whose opening was timed to coincide with the traveling exhibit (出開帳 ''degaichō'') of sacred images from Narita-san in Edo. Danjūrō's immense popularity and his attachment to Fudō myōō at Shinshō-ji prompted many commoners of all classes to make regular pilgrimages from Edo to Narita-san.

Important buildings

Several of the structures at Narita-san temple have been designated National Important Cultural Properties: the Kōmyō-dō, built in 1701 and dedicated to the Dainichi Nyorai Buddha (

Vairocana Vairocana (also Mahāvairocana, sa, वैरोचन) is a cosmic buddha from Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Vairocana is often interpreted, in texts like the ''Avatamsaka Sutra'', as the dharmakāya of the historical Gautama Buddha. In East ...

), the principal image of Shingon Buddhism; the three-storied, 25-meter high pagoda built in 1712; the ''

Niōmon is the Japanese name of a Buddhist temple gate guarded by two wooden warriors called Niō (lit. Two Kings). The gate is called Heng Ha Er Jiang (哼哈二将) in China and Geumgangmun (금강문) in Korea. The two statues are inside the two pos ...

'' main gate, built in 1830; the Shaka-dō ( Shakyamuni Hall), built in 1858; and the Gaku-dō (Votive Tablet Hall), built in 1861. The Kaizan-dō (Open Mountain Hall) shrine to Kanchō Daisōjō was built in 1938, in time for the temple's 1000th anniversary.On-site signage viewed 27 June 2009. Narita-san Park (16.5 hectares) opened in 1928, the current Great Main Hall dates from 1968, a 58-meter high Great Pagoda (Daitō) was added in 1984, and a hall dedicated to

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- ...

, regarded as the father of Japanese Buddhism, was erected in 1992.

Regular events

Large crowds attend the major annual events at Narita-san:

Oshogatsu The is an annual festival with its own customs. Since 1873, the official Japanese New Year has been celebrated according to the Gregorian calendar, on January 1 of each year, . However, some traditional events of the Japanese New Year are par ...

in January, Setsubun in February, the

taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming ...

drum festival in April, firelight performances of Noh plays in May, the

Gion Festival The is one of the largest and most famous festivals in Japan, taking place annually during the month of July in Kyoto. Many events take place in central Kyoto and at the Yasaka Shrine, the festival's patron shrine, located in Kyoto's famous Gion ...

in July,

Obon or just is fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist– Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people ret ...

in August; Shichigosan in November; and the annual burning of amulets in late December. People come to Narita-san Park to view

ume ''Prunus mume'' is an East Asian and Southeast Asian tree species classified in the ''Armeniaca'' section of the genus ''Prunus'' subgenus ''Prunus''. Its common names include Chinese plum, Japanese plum, and Japanese apricot. The flower, long ...

blossoms in the early spring and autumn leaves in the late fall. In addition, there are chantings of the Sutra of Great Wisdom (Daihannya-e) in January, May, and September; and temple fairs are held on the 1st, 15th, and 28th day of each month. Several times a day, wooden amulets are ceremonially burned in

rituals.

Tourism

Narita-san has been a favorite site for excursions and pilgrimages by citizens of the nearby metropolitan area ever since the Tokugawa shōguns moved the national capital to Edo in 1603. After nearby Narita International Airport became the primary international hub for Japanese air traffic in the late 1970s, Narita-san also began to attract increasing numbers of foreign tourists, especially those who have a long layovers in transit. The airport is just a short train ride from either JR East Narita Station or

Keisei Keisei may refer to: *Keisei (monk) *Keisei Electric Railway *Keisei Bus The is a bus company within the Keisei Group which was established on 1 October 2003 to inherit all business of the Keisei Electric Railway bus department. Local bus ser ...

Narita Station. From each station, it is just a short walk to the temple, along picturesque streets with many small shops selling snacks and other foodstuffs, as well as good-luck charms and other souvenirs, such as

Daruma doll A is a hollow, round, Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen tradition of Buddhism. These dolls, though typically red and depicting a bearded man (Bodhidharma), vary greatly in color and design depending o ...

Gallery

File:120803 Narita-san Shinsho-ji Narita Chiba pref Japan02n.jpg, Great Main Hall, 1968 File:ShinshojiHeiwaDaito20131012.jpg, Great Peace Pagoda ('' Daitō''), 1984 File:Naritasan Temple angry god in Great Pagoda of Peace.jpg, ''Fudō Myōō'' ( Acala) in the Great Peace Pagoda File:Naritasan-pagoda.jpg, Three-storied pagoda, 1712 File:Shinsho-ji Shaka-do 201804.jpg, Shaka- dō, 1858 File:ShinshojiKomyodo20131012.jpg, Kōmyō-dō, 1701 File:Naritasan Temple beside the 3 storied pagoda.jpg, Issaikyō-dō, 1722 File:shishoji_taishido.jpg,

Hall, 1992 File:Naritasan Temple building a.jpg, Kaisan-dō, 1938 File:Shinshoji seiryugongendo.jpg, Seiryūgongen-dō File:Naritasan-Somon 201203.jpg, Sōmon entrance, 2008 File:120803 Narita-san Shinsho-ji Narita Chiba pref Japan07n.jpg,

gate, 1831 File:新勝寺 - panoramio - くろふね (6).jpg, Gaku-dō, 1861 File:120803 Narita-san Shinsho-ji Narita Chiba pref Japan06n.jpg, Lantern on the Niōmon File:Naritasan-Shinshouji-offering-buckets.JPG, Bucket offerings File:Naritasan-dragon-and-sword.jpg, Sword & dragon File:Naritasan-Shinshouji-Kukai-statue.JPG, Statue of

File:Naritasan Shinshoji Temple 01.jpg

References

* Graham, Patricia J. (2007) ''Faith and Power in Japanese Buddhist Art'' (Honolulu:

University of Hawaii Press A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

) .

External links

Official web site
in English
Narita-san Shinshō-ji temple walk, Chiba, Japan in 4K
Walk video through all the large complex of buildings and grounds of Narita-san Shinshō-ji

in English

in English
Photos of Narita-san Temple
{{Authority control Buddhist temples in Chiba Prefecture Shingon Buddhism Tourist attractions in Chiba Prefecture Narita, Chiba 10th-century establishments in Japan Religious buildings and structures completed in 940 10th-century Buddhist temples