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 ...
located in the town of
Ōtaki in
Chiba Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...
, Japan. It is closely associated with
Honda Tadakatsu
, also called Honda Heihachirō (本多 平八郎) was a Japanese samurai, general, and daimyo of the late Sengoku through early Edo periods, who served Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Honda Tadakatsu was one of the Tokugawa Four Heavenly Kings (Shitennō) a ...
, a ''
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 ...
'' of the late
Sengoku
The was the period in 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 the period's start ...
through early
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 ...
loyal to
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 ...
.
Construction
The temple was built in 1595 by Tadakatsu. Ieyasu granted Honda Tadakatsu the
Ōtaki Domain
was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of the Edo period, located in Kazusa Province (modern-day Chiba Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Ōtaki Castle (Chiba), Ōtaki Castle in what is now the town of Ōtaki, Chiba.
H ...
, and he constructed the
''jōkamachi'', or castle town, of
Ōtaki Castle. Tadakatsu placed the temple in a strategically defensive position in the Shinmachi District above the
Isumi River
The is a river in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is in length and has a drainage area of . Under the Rivers Act of 1906 the Isumi is designated as a Class 2 River. Additionally, the government has designated the Isumi River a national-level .
Ge ...
to protect the castle town from the south. The temple was originally called but was renamed Ryōgen-ji, the name by which it is known today, after the death of Honda Tadakatsu.
Cultural objects
to the west of the
''Kondō'', or main hall of the temple, is a grave site dedicated to Honda Tadakatsu, his wife, and younger son
Honda Tadatomo
was a Japanese samurai lord who was a retainer of the Tokugawa clan following the Azuchi–Momoyama period of the 16th century to the Edo period of the 17th century of Japan. Tadatomo was the younger son of Honda Tadakatsu, one of Four Guardia ...
.
[Chiba-ken Kōtō Gakkō Kyōiku Kenkyūkai, Rekishi Bukai, 1994, p. 194.] The three tombstones, in the shape of 1 meter (3 ft)-high pagodas, exist to this day: Tadakatsu's in the middle, his wife's to the right, and Tadatomo's to the left. The grave site was constructed to face due north towards a full view of Ōtaki Castle. The temple currently houses a wealth of items related to Honda Tadakatsu and the
Honda clan
The is a Japanese family that claims descent from the medieval court noble Fujiwara no Kanemichi. The family settled in Mikawa and served the Matsudaira clan as retainers. Later, when the main Matsudaira family became the Tokugawa clan, the H ...
, including his portrait,
Buddhist mortuary tablet, and numerous archival documents of the period.
Notes
References
*''Chiba-ken no rekishi sanpo'' (千葉県の歴史散步; "Walking Chiba History"). (Ed.) Chiba-ken Kōtō Gakkō Kyōiku Kenkyūkai, Rekishi Bukai. Yamakawa Shuppansha, 1994.
External links
Official home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryogen-ji
Buddhist temples in Chiba Prefecture
Chiba Prefecture designated tangible cultural property
Jōdo-shū temples