, also called , is a historic Japanese Buddhist temple complex with many temples and statues on Mount Misen, the holy mountain on the island of

Itsukushima is an island in the western part of the Inland Sea of Japan, located in the northwest of Hiroshima Bay. It is popularly known as , which in Japanese means "Shrine Island". The island is one of Hayashi Gahō's Three Views of Japan specifie ...

, off the coast of

Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima is a Cities of Japan, city located in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 116,087 in 53,320 households and a population density of 240 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Hatsukaichi is ...

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 is the 14th temple in the

Chūgoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage The is one of a number of traditional Buddhist junrei, pilgrimage routes in Japan. The route includes 33 sites sacred to the boddhisattva Kuan Yin, Kannon, across the Chūgoku region (Okayama Prefecture, Okayama, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, ...

and famous for the maple trees and their autumn colors. Including Mt. Misen, Daishō-in is within the

World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

Area of

Itsukushima Shrine is a Shinto shrine on the island of Itsukushima (popularly known as Miyajima), best known for its "floating" ''torii''.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005)"''Itsukushima-jinja''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 407. It is in the cit ...

. In this temple there is a flame which is said to have been burning since its foundation, for more than 1,200 years.

History

*According to tradition, Daishō-in was founded by the monk

Kūkai , born posthumously called , was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the Vajrayana, esoteric Shingon Buddhism, Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) und ...

, also known posthumously as , in the year 806, the 1st year of the Daidō era. :Kūkai was one of the most famous

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

s in Japan and the founder of

Shingon Buddhism 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-j ...

. :Made head temple of one of denomination of Shingon Buddhism and the oldest temple on Itsukushima. *By an Imperial order of

Emperor Toba was the 74th Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 鳥羽天皇 (74)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Toba's reign spanned the years from 1107 through 1123. Genealogy Before his ascension to the Ch ...

, it was the place to pray for the peace and security of the nation. *

Emperor Meiji , posthumously honored as , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the List of emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. His reign is associated with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ...

stayed there on July 31, 1885, for his visit to

. *Repair work for the trail to Mount Misen was finished in 1905. :It was done by the donation of

Itō Hirobumi Kazoku, Prince , born , was a Japanese statesman who served as the first prime minister of Japan from 1885 to 1888, and later from 1892 to 1896, in 1898, and from 1900 to 1901. He was a leading member of the ''genrō'', a group of senior state ...

. *Heavy damage by 19th typhoon on September 27, 1991. *Held a memorial service to congratulate the restoration of the damage on October 10, 1998. *The

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...

visited Itsukushima to celebrate the 1200th-year of Daishō-in from 3 to 8 November 2006. There are also many buildings, gates of the temple and many statues of

Kannon 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 ...

, Jūichimen Kannon, Fudō-myōō (Acala) and

Seven Lucky Gods In Japanese mythology, the are believed to grant good luck and are often represented in netsuke and in artworks. One of the seven (Jurōjin) is said to be based on a historical figure. They all began as remote and impersonal gods, but graduall ...

on and around Mt. Misen. The temple was the administrator of the Itsukushima shrine before 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

forbade (

Shinbutsu bunri The Japanese term indicates the separation of Shinto from Buddhism, introduced after the Meiji Restoration which separated Shinto ''kami'' from buddhas, and also Buddhist temples from Shinto shrines, which were originally amalgamated. It is a ...

) syncretism (

Shinbutsu-shūgō ''Shinbutsu-shūgō'' (, "syncretism of kami and buddhas"), also called ''Shinbutsu-konkō'' (, "jumbling up" or "contamination of kami and buddhas"), is the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism in Japan, Buddhism that was Japan's main organized rel ...

) between

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

and Buddhism in 1868.Miyajima Misen Daiso-In Temple, Official Publication, http://www.galilei.ne.jp/daisyoin/

Events

References

External links

Daisyō-in
in Japanese)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daisho-in (Miyajima) Buddhist temples in Hiroshima Prefecture 806 establishments Religious buildings and structures completed in the 800s 9th-century establishments in Japan Itsukushima Buildings and structures in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Bettoji Temples

History

Events

See also

References

External links