The was a

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

located in what is now the Kokubu neighborhood of the city of

Kirishima, Kagoshima 270px, Kirishima City Hall is a city located in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 123,640 in 63202 households, and a population density of 200 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Kirishima has ...

, Japan. It was one of the

provincial temple The are Buddhist temples in Japan, Buddhist temples established in each of the provinces of Japan by Emperor Shōmu during the Nara period (710 – 794). The official name for each temple was Konkomyo Shitenno Gokoku-ji (Konkōmyō Shitennō ...

s per the system established by

Emperor Shōmu was the 45th Emperor of Japan, emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 聖武天皇 (45)/ref> according to the traditional List of Emperors of Japan, order of succession. Shōmu's reign spanned the years 724 through 749, duri ...

during the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 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 capita ...

(710 – 794) for the purpose of promoting

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

as the national religion of Japan and standardising imperial rule over the provinces. The temple no longer exists, but the temple grounds were designated as a National Historic Site in 1921. In May 2004, the was added to the National Historic Site designation.

Overview

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 and followed by ''Nihon Kōki''. Fujiwara no Tsugutada and Sugano no Mamichi served as t ...

'' records that in 741 AD, as the country recovered from a major smallpox epidemic,

ordered that a state-subsidized monastery and nunnery be established in every

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

for the promotion of Buddhism and to enhance political unification per the new ''

ritsuryō is the historical Japanese legal system, legal system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Legalism (Chinese philosophy), Chinese Legalism in Feudal Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (). ''Kya ...

'' system. These were the . The temples were constructed per a more-or-less standardized template, and were each to be staffed by twenty clerics who would pray for the state's protection. The associated provincial nunneries (''kokubunniji'') were on a smaller scale, each housing ten nuns to pray for the atonement of sins. This system declined when the capital was moved from Nara to Kyoto in 794 AD.

History

The Ōsumi Kokubun-ji temple site is located in central Kagoshima Prefecture, on a slightly elevated area to the south of the northern part of the Kokubu urban area of Kirishima. The ruins are located at the east end of Kirishima city, west of Kokubun Elementary School. The remains of Kokubun-niji nunnery and the Ōsumi provincial capital are assumed to be nearby, but the exact locations are unknown. The exact foundation date of the temple is unknown. It first appears in historical records in a tax document for 820 AD, stating that 30,000 bundles of rice were allotted from the revenues of

Hyūga Province was a province of Japan in the area of southeastern Kyūshū, corresponding to modern Miyazaki Prefecture Hyūga bordered on Ōsumi to the south, Higo to the west, and Bungo to the north. Its abbreviated form name was , although it was als ...

for the upkeep of ''kokubunji'' temples, with 10,000 going to the Hyūga Kokubun-ji and 20,000 to Ōsumi. In the 927 ''

Engishiki The is a Japanese book of laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Engi-shiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 178. History Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of the ''Engishi ...

'' records, 20,000 bundles of rice are allotted to Ōsumi, with a comment made that it was now independent of Hyūga. Based on these documents, the Ōsumi Kokubun-ji was founded between 741 and 820, and it is assumed that it was towards the end of this range as this was still very much a frontier area at the time. All that remains of the temple today is a five-meter high six-storied stone

pagoda A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Thailand, Cambodia, 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 some ...

that was built in 1142, and a

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

with an inscription to

Kannon Bosatsu Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as m ...

and stone statues of the

Niō are two wrathful and muscular guardians of the Buddha standing today at the entrance of many Buddhist temples in East Asian Buddhism in the form of frightening wrestler-like statues. They are dharmapala manifestations of the bodhisattva Vajra ...

, which are assumed to have been erected as a prayer for revival of the temple, indicating that the Ōsumi Kokubun-ji had disappeared before the end 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 Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

. The layout of the temple is also uncertain. It is assumed that the temple compound was aligned in the compass directions, as were all other ''kokubunji'', and that the pagoda stands as the center of the temple area; however, no foundation stones have been found, and the stone pagoda may not be in its the original location. The surrounding area was significantly altered due to the construction of the

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

of Kokubu Castle (Maizuru Castle) by

Shimazu Yoshihisa was a powerful ''daimyō'' and the 16th Chief of Shimazu clan of Satsuma Province, the eldest son of Shimazu Takahisa. He was renowned as a great general, who managed to subjugate Kyushu through the deft maneuvering of his three brothers. Eventu ...

in 1604, and urban encroachment in the modern era. However, due to the large numbers of Nara period

roof tile Roof tiles are overlapping tiles designed mainly to keep out precipitation such as rain or snow, and are traditionally made from locally available materials such as clay or slate. Later tiles have been made from materials such as concrete, glass ...

s found at the site, it is certain that the temple was once at this location. During the

Tenbun , also known as Tenmon, was a after '' Kyōroku'' and before '' Kōji''. This period spanned from July 1532 through October 1555. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1532 : At the request of Ashikaga Yoshiharu, the 12th ''shōgun'' of t ...

era (1532–1555), the

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

Kokubun-ji, which inherited the Nara period temple foundations, was established in nearby Kami-Ogawa Village, and reconstructed during the

Genroku was a after Jōkyō and before Hōei. The Genroku period spanned the years from September 1688 to March 1704. The reigning emperor was .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 415. The period was known for its peace and ...

era (1688–1704). However, the original temple grounds were used as a cemetery from the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

onward, and the Sōtō temple itself was abolished in 1868 due to the early

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

's anti-Buddhist ''

Haibutsu kishaku (literally "abolish Buddhism and destroy Shākyamuni") is a term that indicates a current of thought continuous in Japan's history which advocates the expulsion of Buddhism from Japan.Archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

s were conducted in 1981, 1987-1988 and 1997–2003. The community center was removed in 2006 and the pagoda was restored in 2020. Osumi Kokubunji-ato, tou.jpg, Stone Pagoda Osumi Kokubunji-ato, niou.jpg, Niō statues 大隅国分寺跡出土瓦.JPG, Roof tiles from Ōsumi Kokubun-ji site 大隅国分寺跡出土刻書瓦.JPG, Roof tiles from Ōsumi Kokubun-ji site 大隅国分寺瓦 (隼人塚史跡館展示).JPG, Roof tiles from Ōsumi Kokubun-ji site

Miyatagaoka Tile Kiln Ruins

More than 20,000

shards were found along with three underground ''

noborigama The ''anagama'' kiln (Japanese Kanji: 穴窯/ Hiragana: あながま) is an ancient type of pottery kiln brought to Japan from China via Korea in the 5th century. It is a version of the climbing dragon kiln of south China, whose further deve ...

'' climbing kilns at the Miyatagaoka Tile Kiln Ruins located in the Funatsu neighborhood of

Aira ''Aira'' is a genus of Old World plants in the grass family, native to western and southern Europe, central and southwest Asia, plus Africa. The common name, shared with the similar related genera '' Deschampsia'' and ''Koeleria'', is hair-gras ...

City, located 15 kilometers west of the temple ruins. The site is approximately five kilometers upstream from the mouth of the Beppu River, and was built by hollowing out a hill that extended from the plateau on the right bank. Three kilns have been confirmed, and the remains of No. 3 kiln having a total length of approximately 6.34 meters.The floor has steps for filling the kiln with tiles, and the tiles remained in situ within the kiln are also visible. All of the tiles found at this sire are round tiles or eaves tiles, and there are no ''

onigawara are a type of roof ornamentation found in Japanese architecture. They are generally roof tiles or statues depicting an ''oni'' (ogre) or a fearsome beast. ''Onigawara'' were historically found on Buddhist temples, but are now used in many tradi ...

'' or ''shibi'' tiles. Since the patterns match the ones excavated from the Ōsumi Kokubun-ji site, it was determined that it was tile kiln associated with that temple. Despite the distance, it is assumed that the tiles were transported by boat along the Beppu River. The Ōsumi Kokubun-ji site is about a 12-minute walk from Kokubu Station on the

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan. It formerly operated the Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait be ...

Nippō Main Line The is a railway line in Kyushu, in southern Japan, operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). Also known as the Fukuhoku Nippo Line, The line connects Kokura Station in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, and Kagoshima Station in Kagoshima, Kagoshima, K ...

. The Miyatagaoka Tile Kiln Ruins is approximately 21-minutes by car from Kinkō Station on the JR Kyushu Nippō Main Line.

References

External links

Aira City Digital Museum

Kagoshima Cultural Properties Encyclopedia
{{in lang, ja Historic Sites of Japan Kirishima, Kagoshima Aira, Kagoshima Ōsumi Province 9th-century establishments in Japan Kokubunji Buddhist archaeological sites in Japan

Overview

History

Miyatagaoka Tile Kiln Ruins

See also

References

External links