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is a Buddhist temple of 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 ...
sect in the town of Hiraizumi in southern
Iwate Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture (behind Hokkaido) at , with a population of 1,165,886 (as of July 1, 2023). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Pre ...
,
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 ...
, and also refers to the historic area surrounding it containing the ruins of two older temples, and in a Jōdo (
Pure Land Pure Land is a Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhist concept referring to a transcendent realm emanated by a buddhahood, buddha or bodhisattva which has been purified by their activity and Other power, sustaining power. Pure lands are said to be places ...
) garden. The current temple was built in the 18th century and bears no relation to the ancient temple structures that once stood here. In June 2011, Mōtsū-ji was listed as a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
as "
Historic Monuments and Sites of Hiraizumi Hiraizumi – Temples, Gardens and Archaeological Sites Representing the Buddhist Pure Land is a grouping of five sites from late eleventh- and twelfth-century Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. The serial nomination was inscribed on the UNESCO Wo ...
".


History

Mōtsū-ji was founded in 850 by Ennin (Jikaku Daishi). At the time, the area was a frontier between
Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a Names of Japan, name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial ...
Japan and the Emishi of the
Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, , or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains ...
of northern
Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...
. In the mid-12th century, Fujiwara no Motohira, the second
Northern Fujiwara The Northern Fujiwara (奥州藤原氏 ''Ōshū Fujiwara-shi'') were a Japanese noble family that ruled the Tōhoku region (the northeast of Honshū) of Japan during the 12th century as their own realm.
lord, built a temple here called Enryū-ji. There is also a possibility that Motohira's father Fujiwara no Kiyohira built an earlier Enryū-ji on this site before he died in 1128. If so, it is supposed that this original temple was consumed by fire soon after its completion in the war of succession between Motohira and his brother Koretsune. The temple built by Motohira around 1150 would then have been a copy of his father's temple. Motohira's Enryū-ji must have been spectacular by any standards. The main hall contained a monumental statue of Yakushi Nyōrai, the Buddha of Healing, with monumental statues of the Twelve Divine Generals (Jūni Shinshō), sculpted by Unkei with crystal eyes; an innovation at that time. The hall itself was brightly painted and decorated with precious wood, gold, silver and jewels. The main hall was surrounded by other buildings including a lecture hall, a circumambulation hall, a two-story main gate, a
bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...
and a sutra repository. The temple's name placard was written by and the ornamental poem slips by Fujiwara no Norinaga. At the height of its glory Mōtsū-ji is said to have had 40 buildings and up to 500 subsidiary chapels for meditation, many of which used rare woods and precious materials in their construction, in the manner of nearby Chūson-ji. Once Enryū-ji was completed Motohira ordered an almost exact copy to be built beside it, Kashō-ji. He did not live to see it completed. His son and heir, Hidehira, accomplished that task. Kashō-ji also contained a monumental statue of Yakushi Nyōrai but the walls were decorated with paintings illustrating the
Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' (Sanskrit: ''Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram'', ''Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma'', zh, p=Fǎhuá jīng, l=Dharma Flower Sutra) is one of the most influential and venerated Buddhist Mahāyāna sūtras. ...
. After the downfall of the Northern Fujiwara clan, all of the buildings were destroyed by fires, either natural or in conflicts, and the temple was completely in ruins by 1226.


Current status

The temple was rebuilt 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 ...
; however, the current structures were not located on the original foundations and are not reconstructions of the original buildings. The current temple buildings consist of a Hondō enshrining a Yakushi Nyōrai, and a Jogyō-dō meditation hall. The pond and surrounding Pure Land garden is preserved much as it was 800 years ago. The designer of the garden is unknown, but was clearly familiar with the (an 11th-century treatise on garden making). The garden consists of a large pond with two islands, one peninsula on the southeast shore, and three on the south shore. On the north shore of the pond are the remains of the original main hall, bell tower and sutra repository. In the original garden, bridges connected this hall with the central island (which was shaped like a ) and the great south gate. The shoreline, with its beach, peninsulas and rugged mountain rocks, is thought to represent the seacoast. There are beautiful plantings of cherry trees, irises, lotus, bush clover and maples. Various festivals are held throughout the year. Mōtsū-ji is designated as both a Special Place of Scenic Beauty and a Special National Historic Site.


Annual events

* January 20: The Jogyodo 20th Night Festival and "Ennen no Mai" Dance * May 1–5: Spring Fujiwara Festival and Ennen no Mai Dance * June 20 - July 10: Ayame Matsuri or Iris Festival * August 16: Daimonji Matsuri or Bon Fire Festival * September 15–30: Hagi Matsuri or Japanese Bush Clover Festival * November 1–3: Autumn Fujiwara Festival and Ennen no Mai Dance


See also

*
List of Historic Sites of Japan (Iwate) This list is of the Monuments of Japan, Historic Sites of Japan located within the Prefectures of Japan, Prefecture of Iwate Prefecture, Iwate. National Historic Sites As of 24 June 2024, thirty-four Sites have been Cultural Properties of Japan, ...
*
World Heritage Sites in Japan The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972. Cultural her ...
* Shiramizu Amidadō


References


External links


Motsuji Temple
(English Web Site)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Motsu-ji Buddhist temples in Iwate Prefecture Buddhist archaeological sites in Japan Special Places of Scenic Beauty Special Historic Sites World Heritage Sites in Japan Hiraizumi, Iwate Tendai temples 9th-century establishments in Japan 9th-century Buddhist temples Mutsu Province 850 establishments Religious buildings and structures completed in the 850s