Motsu-ji
Encyclopedia
Tendai
is a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school.Chappell frames the relevance of Tendai for a universal Buddhism:- History :...
sect in Hiraizumi and to the historic area surrounding it containing the ruins of two older temples, Enryū-ji （圓隆寺） and Kashō-ji（嘉祥寺）in a Jōdo (Pure Land
Sukhavati
Sukhāvatī refers to the western Pure Land of the Buddha Amitābha in Mahāyāna Buddhism. Sukhāvatī translates to "Land of Bliss."-In other languages:In traditional Mahayana Buddhist countries, there are a number of translations for Sukhāvatī....
) garden. The current temple was built in the 18th century and bears no relation to the ancient temples that once stood here. In June 2011, Mōtsū-ji was listed as a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
as "Historic Monuments and Sites of Hiraizumi
Historic Monuments and Sites of Hiraizumi
Historic Monuments and Sites of Hiraizumi is a group of five sites from late eleventh- and twelfth-century Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. Proposed jointly in 2001 for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List under criteria ii, iii, iv, and vi, it was inscribed in 2011.-Hiraizumi:For four...
".
Previous to the 12th century this area was apparently known as Mōtsū, or Kegosu being an alternate reading of the Chinese characters 毛越. These characters mean 'hair' and 'boundary' and refer to the boundary between 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...
and the 'hairy people' or Emishi
Emishi
The constituted a group of people who lived in northeastern Honshū in the Tōhoku region. They are referred to as in contemporary sources. Some Emishi tribes resisted the rule of the Japanese Emperors during the late Nara and early Heian periods...
beyond. In other words this was at one time the northern boundary of Japan.
In the mid 12th century Fujiwara no Motohira, the second Northern Fujiwara
Northern Fujiwara
The Northern Fujiwara were a Japanese noble family that ruled the Tōhoku region of Japan from the 12th to the 13th centuries as if it were their own realm. They succeeded the semi-independent Emishi families of the 11th century who were gradually brought down by the Minamoto clan loyal to the...
lord, built a temple here called Enryũ-ji. There is also a possibility that Motohira's father Fujiwara no Kiyohira
Fujiwara no Kiyohira
was a samurai of mixed Japanese-Emishi parentage of the late Heian period , who was the founder of the Hiraizumi or Northern Fujiwara dynasty that ruled Northern Japan from about 1100 to 1189....
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.
Unkei
Unkei was a Japanese sculptor of the Kei school, which flourished in the Kamakura period. He specialized in statues of the Buddha and other important Buddhist figures. Unkei's early works are fairly traditional, similar in style to pieces by his father, Kōkei...
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 temple was surrounded by other buildings including a lecture hall, a circumambulation hall, a two story main gate, a bell tower and a sutra repository. The temple's name placard was written by Fujiwara no Tadamichi
Fujiwara no Tadamichi
was the eldest son of the Japanese regent Fujiwara no Tadazane and a member of the politically powerful Fujiwara clan. He was the father of Fujiwara no Kanefusa and Jien.In the Hōgen Rebellion of 1156, Tadamichi sided with the Emperor Go-Shirakawa....
(藤原忠通) and the ornamental poem slips by Fujiwara no Norinaga.
Once Enryũ-ji was completed Motohira ordered an 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 but the walls were decorated with paintings illustrating the Lotus Sutra
Lotus Sutra
The Lotus Sūtra is one of the most popular and influential Mahāyāna sūtras, and the basis on which the Tiantai and Nichiren sects of Buddhism were established.-Title:...
.
At the height of its glory Mōtsū-ji is said to have had 40 pagodas and 500 monasteries. But all was burned in November 1226 and never rebuilt.
Today the pond is preserved much as it was 800 years ago, but none of the original buildings exist today nor have been rebuilt. The new Motsu-ji temple sits in front of the 12th century site straddling what used to be Kuramachi Street. Now there are beautiful plantings of cherry trees, irises, lotus, bush clover and maples. Various festivals are held throughout the year. Admission is 500 yen for adults. Directly to the east across the Frontier Way Motohira's wife built Kanjizaiō-in
Kanjizaio-in
Kanjizaiō-in （観自在王院）refers to a former temple in Hiraizumi founded by the wife of Fujiwara no Motohira, the second of the Northern Fujiwara rulers. It sat directly across the Frontier Way from Enryu-ji and Kasho-ji, her husband's twin temples. Her temple shared the Pure Land theme with her husbands...
.
Annual events include -
- 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
External links
- Motsuji Temple (English Web Site)
38.987817°N 141.108022°W