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 ...
in the city of
Konan
Konan may refer to:
* Conan (disambiguation), a name spelt "Konan" in the Breton language
* ''Kɔnan'', a male given name in a number of Akan cultures, chiefly the Baoulé people, for whom it is typically given to any male born on a Wednesday (''ml ...
,
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 ...
hibutsu
are Japanese Buddhist icons or statues concealed from public view. ''Hibutsu'' are generally located within Buddhist temples in shrines called . They are unavailable for viewing or worship except for certain religious ceremonies. It is possible i ...
Hondō
Main hall or Main Temple is the building within a Japanese Buddhist monastery compound ('' garan'') which enshrines the main object of veneration.Kōjien Japanese dictionary Because the various denominations deliberately use different terms, thi ...
National Treasure
A national treasure is a structure, artifact, object or cultural work that is officially or popularly recognized as having particular value to the nation, or representing the ideals of the nation. The term has also been applied to individuals or ...
The history of Jōraku-ji is uncertain, as the documentary evidence of its foundation has been lost. The temple's legend states that it was founded by
Rōben
(689 – 773), also known as Ryōben, was a Japanese Buddhist monk of the Kegon sect, and clerical founder of the Tōdai-ji temple in Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. He is popularly known as the . His life spanned the late Asuka period (538 &n ...
at the request of
Empress Genmei
, also known as Empress Genmyō, was the 43rd monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 元明天皇 (43) retrieved August 22, 2013. according to the traditional order of succession. Genmei's reign spanned the years 707 through ...
during the Wadō era (708-715), 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 ...
. It was changed to the Tendai sect during the
Enryaku
was a after '' Ten'ō'' and before '' Daidō''. This period spanned the years from August 782 through May 806. The reigning emperor was .
Change of era
* 12 November 782 : The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events. The p ...
era (782-806). Throughout the
Heian
The Japanese word Heian (平安, lit. "peace") may refer to:
* Heian period, an era of Japanese history
* Heian-kyō, the Heian-period capital of Japan that has become the present-day city of Kyoto
* Heian series, a group of karate kata (forms)
* ...
and
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 ...
s, the temple enjoyed the patronage of successive emperors. Jōraku-ji was destroyed by a fire in 1360, but was soon rebuilt. 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 ...
, followers of the ''
Ikkō-ikki
were armed military leagues that formed in several regions of Japan in the 15th-16th centuries, composed entirely of members of the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Buddhism. In the early phases, these ''ikki'' leagues opposed the rule of local Shugo, go ...
'' movement made the area around what is now the city of
Moriyama
270px, Lake Biwa from Moriyama
is a city located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 85,485 in 34,366 households and a population density of 1533.63 persons per km2. The total area of the city is .
Geography
Mo ...
as their stronghold.
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 ...
sent
Sakuma Nobumori
was a Samurai retainer of Oda Nobuhide.
He was treated as Oda Nobunaga's most important retainer and would come to fight in every important battle under Nobunaga's command such as the 1567 Siege of Inabayama Castle, the 1571 and 1573 Siege o ...
at the head of an army to destroy the movement, and Sakuma made Jōraku-ji his field headquarters. The temple impressed the young
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
, otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...
, who later removed its
Niōmon
is the Japanese name of a Buddhist temple gate guarded by two wooden warriors called Niō (lit. Two Kings). The gate is called Heng Ha Er Jiang (哼哈二将) in China and Geumgangmun (금강문) in Korea. The two statues are inside the two po ...
gate (built in 1452) for use in
Fushimi Castle
, also known as or Fushimi-Momoyama Castle, is a Japanese castle located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Fushimi Ward, Kyoto.
Fushimi Castle was constructed from 1592 to 1594 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi at the end of the Sengoku period as his retirement residen ...
. It was later relocated again by
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...
to
Mii-dera
, also known as just Onjo-ji, or , is a Buddhist temple in Japan located at the foot of Mount Hiei, in the city of Ōtsu in Shiga Prefecture. It is a short distance from both Kyoto, and Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. The head temple of t ...
in 1601, where it remains to this day.
The temple is the first stop in the a pilgrimage route founded in 1734 modeled after the
Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage
The is a pilgrimage of thirty-three Buddhist temples throughout the Kansai region of Japan, similar to the Shikoku Pilgrimage. In addition to the official thirty-three temples, there are an additional three known as . The principal image in each ...
, but with all 33 temples located in
Ōmi Province
was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō Circuit (subnational entity), circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, ...
.
The temple is ten-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, ...
Kusatsu Line
The is a railway line in western Japan operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It connects Tsuge on the Kansai Main Line with Kusatsu on the Biwako Line (Tōkaidō Main Line).
Overview
Kusatsu line mainly runs through area around ...
.
Cultural Properties
* The Main Hall (Hondō) of Jōraku-ji was built in 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 completed in either 1360. It is in the ''irimoya-zukuri''-style and is a seven by six bay building with a hinoki cypress bark shingled roof. The building was designated a National Treasure in 1953
*The Three-story Pagoda was reconstructed in 1400. The building is a three by three bay structure with tiled roofs. It was designated a National Treasure in 1953
The temple also has a number of statues which are National Important Cultural Properties
* Shaka Nyōrai, Heian-period
* Senjū Kannon (''honzon'' of the temple), Nanboku-cho period,
* Set of 28 Avatars of Kannon (of which two a missing, and have been replaced by statues of
Fūjin
or , sometimes also known as Ryobu, is the Japanese god of the wind and one of the eldest Shinto and Buddhist gods. He is portrayed as a terrifying wizardly demon, resembling a red-haired, green-skinned humanoid wearing a tiger or leopard skin ...
and
Raijin
, also known as , , , , and Kamowakeikazuchi-no-kami is a god of lightning, thunder, and Storm, storms in Japanese mythology and the Shinto and Buddhism, Buddhist religion. He is typically depicted with fierce and aggressive facial expressions ...
; Kamakura period
See also
*
List of National Treasures of Japan (temples)
The term " National Treasure" has been used in Japan to denote cultural properties since 1897.
The definition and the criteria have changed since the inception of the term. The temple structures in this list were designated national treasures whe ...