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 ...
Shiga Prefecture
is a landlocked prefecture of Japan in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,398,972 as of 1 February 2025 and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to th ...
,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. It belongs to the
Tendai
, also known as the Tendai Dharma Flower School (天台法華宗, ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just ''Hokkeshū''), is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition with significant esoteric elements that was officially established in Japan in 806 by t ...
school of
Japanese Buddhism
Buddhism was first established in Japan in the 6th century CE. Most of the Japanese Buddhists belong to new schools of Buddhism which were established in the Kamakura period (1185－1333). During the Edo period (1603–1868), Buddhism was cont ...
The history of Chōjū-ji is uncertain, as the documentary evidence of its foundation has been lost. The temple's legend states that it was founded by Rōben at the request of
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 Tenpyō era (729-749), into order to project the spiritually vulnerable northeastern quadrant from
Shigaraki Palace
The was an imperial palace built by Emperor Shōmu, initially as a villa, later named by himself as the capital of Japan in 744 AD. It was located in Kōka District of Ōmi Province in what is now part of the city of Kōka, Shiga Prefecture, J ...
, and also in hopes that he would conceive an heir. In response to this, his consort gave birth to a princess, later known as Empress Kōken. The temple was a substantial establishment with 24 chapels and it was named "Chōjū-ji" as a prayer for the longevity of the princess. A statue of Jizō Bosatsu was carved by Gyōki as the temple's main image.
The Hondō was destroyed in a fire during the Jōgan period (859-877) but was soon rebuilt. The temple was patronized by
Minamoto no Yoritomo
was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako ...
in the
Kamakura period
The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...
Muromachi period
The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...
. In the
Sengoku period
The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...
,
Oda Nobunaga
was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...
had the temple's Three-story Pagoda relocated to Sōken-ji near Azuchi Castle, where it remains to this day. The Rōmon was likewise relocated by Nobunaga to a temple called Rendai-ji in what is now Rittō, Shiga, but neither the gate nor the temple have survived.
The temple is seven-minutes by car from Ishibe 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, ...
* The Main Hall (Hondō) of Chōjū-ji was built towards 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 ...
or the start of the
Kamakura period
The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...
. As all documentation has been lost, the exact date is not certain. It is a five by five bay, single-story, ''yosemune'' style structure with a three- ken step canopy, and hinoki cypress bark shingled roof. The building was designated a National Treasure in 1953.
* Benten-dō; late Muromachi period (dated 1550), a one x one bay chapel
The temple also has a number of statues which are National Important Cultural Properties
* Amida Nyōrai, Heian-period
* Amida Nyōrai, Heian-period
* Shaka Nyōrai, Heian period,
Gallery
Chôju-ji Plan.jpg, Hondō layout
Chojuji03s3200.jpg, Benten-dō
Chojuji09s3200.jpg, Belfry
Chojuji12s3200.jpg, Stone Tahō-tō
Tyoujuji_1.JPG, Sanmon
Tyoujuji_3.JPG, Site of Three-story Pagoda