Myōō-in (明王院) is a

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 ...

Fukuyama Fukuyama may refer to: People * Francis Fukuyama, Japanese-American philosopher and political economist * Fukuyama (surname), other people with the name Places *Fukuyama, Hiroshima, city in Japan *Fukuyama, Kagoshima was a town located in Aira D ...

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

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 ...

History

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 ...

states that the

Risshū The traditional Chinese calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms. ''Lìqiū'', ''Risshū'', ''Ipchu'', or ''Lập thu'' () is the 13th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 135° and ends when it reaches th ...

or "

Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali and Sanskrit: विनय) refers to numerous monastic rules and ethical precepts for fully ordained monks and nuns of Buddhist Sanghas (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). These sets of ethical rules and guidelines devel ...

School", one of the

Nanto Rokushū The Six Schools of Nara Buddhism, also known as the ''Rokushū'' 六宗 (also ''Rokushuu/Rokushu''), were academic Buddhist sects. These schools came to Japan from Korea and China during the late 6th and early 7th centuries. All of these school ...

, constructed this temple in 807. The original name of the temple was ''Jōfuku-ji'' . The major object of worship at this temple, a statue of Eleven-Faced Kannon (Juchimen-

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 ...

), is estimated to have originated in the early years of the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

and no doubt was extant in the 9th century. 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 ...

, this temple changed its sect affiliation and name to fall under the protection of the

Mizuno clan The Mizuno clan, a prominent Japanese clan, held the esteemed positions of samurai and nobility. Throughout the tumultuous Sengoku period, they were the rulers of Kariya Castle in Mikawa Province, which also served as the ancestral home of Tok ...

, a clan of ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

s'' in the region. Today, the temple belongs to the .

Object of Worship

*Juchimen-Kannon – estimated to be carved in the 9th century

Cultural Properties

This temple has two

National Treasures 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 ...

and one Important Cultural Property as selected by Japanese government.

National Treasures

* The Main Hall – constructed in 1321 * Five Story Pagoda – constructed in 1348

Important Cultural Properties

* Juichimen-Kannon

Access

* Kusadouenocho Bus Stop of Tomotetsu Bus

References

Official Home Page of Fukuyama City
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myooin, Hiroshima Buddhist temples in Hiroshima Prefecture Fukuyama, Hiroshima National Treasures of Japan Important Cultural Properties of Japan Pagodas in Japan Hiroshima Prefecture designated important cultural property