Bitchū Kokubun-ji Pagoda (ICP) The is an Omuro-branch

Shingon is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asian Buddhism. It is a form of Japanese Esoteric Buddhism and is sometimes called "Tōmitsu" (東密 lit. "Esoteric uddhismof Tō- ...

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 Kamibayashi neighborhood of the city of

Sōja file:Bitchu Kokubunji, zenkei.jpg, 270px, Bitchū Kokubun-ji is a Cities of Japan, city located in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 69,428 and a population density of 330 persons per km2. The total area of the ...

, Japan. Its main image is a statue of

Yakushi Nyorai Bhaiṣajyaguru (, zh, t= , , , , ), or ''Bhaishajyaguru'', formally Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabha-rāja ("Medicine Master and King of Lapis Lazuli Light"; zh, t=藥師琉璃光(王)如來, , , ), is the Buddha of healing and medicine i ...

. It claims to be the successor to 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 ruins of the original Bitchū Kokubun-ji were designated as a National Historic Site in 1968, but the ruins of the associated provincial nunnery, the were actually designated earlier, in 1922.

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.

Bitchū Kokubun-ji

Little is known of the history of the Bitchū Kokubun-ji. According to the temple's own account, it had become abandoned after it was burned down in the wars of the

Nanboku-chō period The , also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period, was a period in Japanese history between 1336-1392 CE, during the formative years of the Ashikaga shogunate, Muromachi (Ashikaga) shogunate. Ideologically, the two courts fought for 50 ...

, and was rebuilt during the Tenshō era (1573–1592) by Shimizu Muneharu, the lord of Bitchū-Takamatsu Castle; however, it fell into decline again and was rebuilt during the

Hōei was a after Genroku and before Shōtoku''.'' This period spanned the years from March 1704 through April 1711. The reigning emperors were and . Etymology ''Hōei'' comes from the Old Book of Tang (). Change of era * 1704 : In reaction to t ...

era (1704–1711) in the mid-

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 ...

. These dates are supported by earthenware fragments found at the site. During

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, the Nara-period temple was found to have occupied an area of two ''chō'' (approximately 218 meters square) and the cornerstones of the South Gate and Middle Gate were discovered. The site of the modern temple overlaps with the original temple, so many details are not clear; however, the original temple appears to have a layout patterned after

Hokki-ji – formerly known as and – is a Buddhist temple temple in the Okamoto neighborhood of the town of Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. The temple's honorary '' sangō'' prefix is , although it is rarely used. The temple was constructed to ho ...

Ikaruga, Nara file:Horyu-ji10s3200.jpg, 280px, Horyu-ji is a List of towns in Japan, town in Ikoma District, Nara, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 28,036 in 12,292 households, and a population density of 2000 persons per km2. The total area of ...

. The foundations of the

Kondō Kondō, Kondo or Kondou (近藤 "near wisteria") is a surname prominent in Japanese culture, although it also occurs in other countries. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese ballet dancer *, man known for marrying a fictional vocal ...

have not been found. The temple's landmark 34.3 meter five-story stone pagoda dates from the mid-Edo period reconstruction of the temple. It is designated a National Important Cultural Property. The temple is located in the , and Kōmorizuka Kofun is nearby. The site is about ten minutes by taxi from Higashi-Sōja Station on the

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

Momotaro Line. The Bitchū Kokubun-niji is about 600 meters east. File:Bitchu Kokubunji, hondou.jpg, Hondō File:Bitchu Kokubunji, daishidou.jpg, Daishi-dō File:Bitchu Kokubunji, kyakuden.jpg, Kyakuden File:Bitchu Kokubunji, kuri.jpg, Kuri (Okayama Prefecture ICP) File:Bitchu Kokubunji, kyouzou.jpg, Kyōzō (Okayama Prefecture ICP) File:Bitchu Kokubunji, sanmon.jpg, Sanmon File:Bitchu Kokubunji, ido-ato.jpg, Site of well File:Bitchu Kokubunji, nanmon-ato.jpg, Foundations of original South Gate

Bitchū Kokubun-niji

The ruins of the provincial nunnery, or Bitchū Kokubun-niji, is located 600 meters east of the Bitchū Kokubun-ji (). It occupied a compound 108 meters east-lowest by 216 meters north-to-south. Nothing is known of its history, and it appears to have been destroyed by fire in the Nanboku-chō period. The foundation stones for the South gate, a portion of the Middle Gate, Kondō, Lecture Hall and nun's quarters have been found on north–south axis. File:Bitchu Kokubun-niji, kondou-ato.jpg, Site of the Kondō File:Bitchu Kokubun-niji, koudou-ato.jpg, Site of the Lecture Hall File:Bitchu Kokubun-niji, chumon-ato.jpg, Site of the Middle gate File:Bitchu Kokubun-niji, nanmon-ato.jpg, Site of the South gate File:Bitchu Kokubun-niji, tsuijidobei-ato.jpg, Remants of perimeter earthen walls

References

External links

Soja city official site

{{in lang, ja Historic Sites of Japan Sōja, Okayama Bitchū Province 8th-century establishments in Japan Nara period Buddhist archaeological sites in Japan

Overview

Bitchū Kokubun-ji

Bitchū Kokubun-niji

See also

References

External links