Hozan-ji is a Buddhist temple in Monzenmachi, Ikoma

Ikoma, Nara

is a city located in the north-west end of Nara Prefecture, Japan.As of June 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 120,304, with 46,989 households and the density of 2,262.20 persons per km², and it is the third biggest population in the prefecture...

, Nara

Nara Prefecture

is a prefecture in the Kansai region on Honshū Island, Japan. The capital is the city of Nara.-History:The present-day Nara Prefecture was created in 1887, making it independent of Osaka Prefecture....

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. It is also called 'Ikoma-Shoten' (生駒聖天）.

History

The area around Hozan-ji was originally a place for the training of Buddhist monks. The name of the place at that time was Daisho-Mudo-ji (大聖無動寺).

Mount Ikoma was originally an object of worship for the ancient people in the region, and so this area was selected as a place for religious training. The training area is said to have opened in 655 by En no Gyōja

En no Gyoja

En no Gyōja , or En no Ozunu , born 634, was a Japanese ascetic and mystic, traditionally held to be the founder of Shugendō, a syncretic religion incorporating aspects of Taoism, Shinto, esoteric Buddhism and traditional Japanese shamanism...

. Many Buddhist monks, including Kukai

Kukai

Kūkai , also known posthumously as , 774–835, was a Japanese monk, civil servant, scholar, poet, and artist, founder of the Shingon or "True Word" school of Buddhism. Shingon followers usually refer to him by the honorific titles of and ....

 (空海), are said to have trained in here.

Hozan-ji started when Tankai

TankAI

TankAI is a Robocode clone written in Microsoft Visual C# 2005 by Michael T. Moosman. TankAI is currently in beta and no official release date has been set...

 (湛海) re-opened this training area in the 17th century. Tankai set up a statue of Kankiten at this place in 1678, the official year Hozan-ji was established.

In the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

, this temple was one of the most popular Buddhist temples in this region.

Cultural properties

This temple has Important Cultural Properties

Important Cultural Properties of Japan

The term is often shortened into just are items officially already classified as Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs and judged to be of particular importance to the Japanese people....

 selected by the Japanese government.

• Shishi-Kaku Building (獅子閣)
• Five statues of Zushiiri-Mokuzo-Godai-Myōō (厨子入木造五大明王像)
• Kenpon-Chosyoku-Kasuga-Mandara-zu (絹本著色春日曼荼羅図)
• Kenpon-Choshoku-Aizen-Myōō (絹本著色愛染明王像)
• Kenpon-Choshoku-Miroku-Bosatsu (絹本著色弥勒菩薩像)
• Five volumes of No-hon, written by Zeami (世阿弥能本)

Access

• Hozan-ji Station of Ikoma Cable Line
• Umeyashiki Station
  Umeyashiki Station
  Umeyashiki Station is the name of two train stations in Japan:# Umeyashiki Station # Umeyashiki Station...
  
   of Ikoma Cable Line

See also

• For an explanation of terms concerning Japanese Buddhism, Japanese Buddhist art, and Japanese Buddhist temple architecture, see the Glossary of Japanese Buddhism
  Glossary of Japanese Buddhism
  This is the glossary of Japanese Buddhism, including major terms the casual reader might find useful in understanding articles on the subject. Words followed by an asterisk are illustrated by an image in one of the photo galleries...
  
  .

External links

34.68431389°N 135.6862056°W