, also sometimes spelled "Kwajū-ji"Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1956). ''Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869'', p. 115. or "Kanshu-ji, is a

Shingon 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- ...

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 A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

Yamashina-ku, Kyoto is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It lies in the southeastern part of the city, and Yamashina Station is one stop away from Kyoto Station on the Tōkaidō Main Line (Biwako Line). The area of Yamashi ...

, Japan.Kyoto Prefectural Government Tourism Division
Kajū-ji.

History

A temple has existed on this site from as early as 900 AD.Japanese Garden Research Network
Kajū-ji.
Kajū-ji, known familiarly as "Kikki-san," was founded by

Emperor Daigo was the 60th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 醍醐天皇 (60)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Daigo's reign spanned the years from 897 through 930. He is named after his place of burial. Gen ...

. This site is said to have been chosen because the mother of the emperor had lived a significant part of her life in this place; and after her death, the temple was established in her memory. The temple was destroyed in 1470 during the

Onin War Onin may refer to: * Ōnin, a Japanese era ** Ōnin War * Onin peninsula, on the Bomberai Peninsula of Indonesian Papua * Onin language, an Austronesian language spoken on the peninsula {{Disambiguation ...

and then later restored by the Tokugawa family and the Imperial Household. Successive head priests have been drawn directly from the Imperial family. Mito Mitsukuni (popularly known as Mito Komon) is said to have donated the stone lantern in front of the ''

Shoin is a type of audience hall in Japanese architecture that was developed during the Muromachi period. The term originally meant a study and a place for lectures on the sūtra within a temple, but later it came to mean just a drawing room or stu ...

''.

Monzeki

Japanese Buddhist priests of aristocratic or imperial lineage were more particularly identified as . The term was also applied to the temples and monastic communities in which they were joined; and Kajū-ji was a ''monzeki'' temple. Beginning in 942, imperial princes lived as monks at Kajū-ji. The eldest son of head of the

Fushimi-no-miya The is the oldest of the four shinnōke, branches of the Imperial Family of Japan which were eligible to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne in the order of succession. The Fushimi-no-miya was founded by Prince Yoshihito, the son of the Northe ...

branches of the imperial family was adopted at age two in 1818 by former-

Emperor Kōkaku , posthumously honored as , was the 119th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')光格天皇 (119)/ref> Kōkaku reigned from 1779 until his abdication in 1817 in favor of his s ...

. Akira-shinnō entered the priesthood under the title ''Siahn Hoshinnō'' and later became prince-abbot of Kajū-ji.

Shinnōke was the collective name for the four cadet branches of the Imperial House of Japan, which were until 1947 entitled to provide a successor to the Chrysanthemum Throne if the main line failed to produce an heir. The heads of these royal house ...

Yamashino-no-miya
/ref> In 1842, he angered the Tokugawa bakufu, which stripped him of his post and confined him to the temple of To-ji. In 1858,

Emperor Komei The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother/grandmother ( empress dowager/ grand empress dowager), or a woman who rul ...

adopted Akira and granted him the title

Yamashina-no-miya The (princely house) was the third oldest collateral branch (''ōke'') of the Japanese Imperial Family created from the Fushimi-no-miya, the oldest of the four branches of the imperial dynasty allowed to provide a successor to the Chrysanthem ...

. In 1864, the bakufu reinstated him.

Garden and pond

Kajū-ji is renowned for its gardens and its water-lily pond. The garden would originally have been used for boating and poem-writing parties, but today one can still stroll through the site. The large pond here, also known as ''hamuro-no-ike'' is the main feature of this garden. This water-garden is known for its lotus, water lilies and irises. The temple pond was probably at one time the main element of a much larger pond and hill garden on the estate of Miyamichi Iemasu, a member of the Heian aristocracy and connected through marriage to the powerful Fujiwara family. One famous old plum tree transplanted from the Imperial Palace in Edo Period can be viewed year round, but it is said to be best in February.

Art

A tapestry image of the preaching Shaka-Nyorai (an alternate name for the founder of Buddhism) has been passed down within the temple over the centuries. This artwork is a National Treasure which is currently held in the collection of

Nara National Museum The is one of the pre-eminent national art museums in Japan. Introduction The Nara National Museum is located in Nara, which was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784. Katayama Tōkuma (1854–1917) designed the original building, which is a rep ...

.Department of Industry and Tourism Tourist Section, Kyoto City Government
Kajū-ji.

Notes

References

* Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1956). ''Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869.'' Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society.

External links

* Panoramio
image of temple + Google map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaju-ji 10th-century establishments in Japan Buddhist temples in Kyoto 10th-century Buddhist temples Important Cultural Properties of Japan Monzeki