The was a Buddhist temple in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

which was, for a time, the home of the

Cloistered A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a warm souther ...

Emperor Go-Shirakawa was the 77th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His de jure reign spanned the years from 1155 through 1158, though arguably he effectively maintained imperial power for almost thirty-seven years through the ''in ...

History

The temple was originally built and founded, as "Hōjūji", by Fujiwara Tamemitsu in 988. However, it was destroyed in 1032. In 1158, Emperor Shirakawa II abdicated in favor of his son Prince Morihito (Emperor Nijō) and made the Hōjūjiden his home, entering cloistered rule. However, in 1183, he was informed by

Minamoto no Yukiie was a brother of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and one of the commanders of the Minamoto forces in the Genpei War at the end of the Heian period of Japanese history. In 1181, he was defeated at the Battle of Sunomatagawa by Taira no Shigehira. After ...

that

Minamoto no Yoshinaka , also known as , was a Japanese samurai lord mentioned in the epic poem '' The Tale of the Heike.'' A member of the Minamoto clan, he was a cousin and later rival of ''shogun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo during the Genpei War between the Minamoto and t ...

intended to kidnap him, form a new government to the north, and use his possession of the cloistered emperor to justify his rule. The emperor informed the Minamoto brothers

Yoshitsune Yoshitsune may refer to: * Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159–1189) ** ''Gikeiki'', a Japanese chronicle, sometimes known in English by Helen Craig McCullough's translated title ''Yoshitsune'' ** ''Yoshitsune'' (TV series), a 2005 Japanese television ...

and Noriyori in turn, and asked for their aid in stopping Yoshinaka. But they failed; Yoshinaka seized

in December 1183. Then, the

Siege of Hōjūjidono The siege of Hōjūjidono (法住寺合戦, ''Hōjūji kassen'') was a siege that took place in Kyoto, Japan in 1184. It was part of the Genpei War and a key element of the conflict between Minamoto no Yoshinaka and his cousins Yoritomo and Y ...

resulted in 1184. Yoshinaka set fire to the buildings, slaughtered many of the occupants, and seized the cloistered emperor. The temple has since been rebuilt, and now houses Shirakawa's tomb. It is also closely related to the Sanjusangen-dō.

References

Buddhist temples in Kyoto 10th-century establishments in Japan Tendai temples Monzeki 10th-century Buddhist temples 988 establishments Religious buildings and structures completed in the 980s Japanese imperial tombs Genpei War {{Mahayana-stub