Inryō-ji ( is a

Buddhist 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 ...

temple in

Okayama City is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The Okayama metropolitan area, centered around the city, has the largest urban employment zone in the Chugoku region of western Japan. The city was founded on June 1, ...

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,826,059 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture ...

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 also known as Inryo-ji, Inryou-ji, or Inryoji. It is a temple of the

Myōshin-ji is a temple complex in Kyoto, Japan, which serves as the head temple of the associated branch of Rinzai Zen Buddhism. The Myōshin-ji School is by far the largest school in Rinzai Zen, approximately as big as the other thirteen branches combined: ...

school of the

Rinzai The Rinzai school (, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng), named after Linji Yixuan (Romaji: Rinzai Gigen, died 866 CE) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, along with Sōtō and Ōbaku. The Chinese Linji school of ...

sect in

Japanese Zen :''See also Zen for an overview of Zen, Chan Buddhism for the Chinese origins, and Sōtō, Rinzai school, Rinzai and Ōbaku for the three main schools of Zen in Japan'' Japanese Zen refers to the Japanese forms of Zen, Zen Buddhism, an orig ...

. The temple was founded in 1632 during 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 ...

by Ikeda Tadakatsu (the former feudal lord of Okayama who ruled

Bizen Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area that is eastern Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of western Japan.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mimasaka no Kuni''" in . Bizen bordered Bitchū Province, ...

and four districts of Bitchū Province and undertook maintenance of Okayama Castle and expansion of the castle town).

History

Although the temple has been rebuilt over the centuries, the latest reconstruction occurred in 1998. The temple was completely burnt down in an air raid on Okayama in the early morning of June 29, 1945, but the stone pagoda and water bowl, though burnt and chipped, still remain, showing the intensity of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It caught fire in August 1898 during the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

and was the first known renovation.

Gallery

Inryoji Temple Information.jpg, alt=Air raid in Okayama, damaged Inryoji Temple, An explanation board of the damage due to the air raid was installed in March 1998 by Okayama City Hall. Inryoji Temple Relics.jpg, alt=Relics of Inryoji Temple, 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 ...

and water bowl Inryoji Temple Tatami.jpg, Tatami room

Venue

The temple's uniqueness is its focus on the arts. The temple's tatami room has been used as a venue for musical performances and other artistic events during art summits, such as choral speaking, film screenings, and dance shows, since 1999. The temple's 15th-generation chief priest, Shinyu Shinohara, organizes the events and works as a live sound engineer. Inryoji Temple Concert

The venue has hosted acts all around the globe, including Jim O'Rourke,

Ichiyo Izawa , better known by his stage name is a Japanese pianist, vocalist and songwriter, best known for his work in the Ringo Sheena-helmed band Tokyo Jihen. He is also the lead vocalist and pianist of the band Appa. Biography Izawa was born in 19 ...

, Kirinji, Nicki Parrott, Yuko Ando, Ichiko Aoba, Peter Broderick,

Laraaji Laraaji (born Edward Larry Gordon, 3 May 1943) is an American multi-instrumentalist specializing in piano, zither and mbira. His albums include the 1980 release ''Day of Radiance, Ambient 3: Day of Radiance'', produced by Brian Eno as part of h ...

, Reggie Washington,

Akira Sakata Akira Sakata (born 21 February 1945) is a Japanese free jazz saxophonist. Early life Sakata was born in Hiroshima on 21 February 1945. He first heard jazz on short-wave radio and Voice of America, then became more interested in it from listening ...

Simon Nabatov Simon Nabatov (born 11 January 1959) is a Russian-American jazz pianist. Early life Nabatov was born in Moscow on 11 January 1959. His parents were Leon, a professional pianist and choir conductor who was a native of Belarus, and Regina. Nabatov ...

Carol Welsman Carol Welsman (born September 29, 1960)"Carol Welsman." ''Gale Biography in Context''. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 2018-03-25. is a Canadian jazz pianist who accompanies her own easy listening, conversati ...

, Sylvain Chauveau, Kotringo, Brigid Mae Power, and Scott Hamilton. Some of these concerts were recorded by sound engineer Emre Ekici.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inryō-ji Important Cultural Properties of Japan Historic Sites of Japan Zen gardens Buddhist relics Religious buildings and structures completed in 1632