, is a Buddhist temple

Buddhist temples in Japan

Along with Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples are the most numerous, famous, and important religious buildings in Japan.The term "Shinto shrine" is used in opposition to "Buddhist temple" to mirror in English the distinction made in Japanese between Shinto and Buddhist religious structures. In...

 located in the city of Kamogawa

Kamogawa, Chiba

is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 35,257 and a population density of 184 persons per km². The total area was 191.30 km²...

 in Chiba Prefecture

Chiba Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region and the Greater Tokyo Area. Its capital is Chiba City.- History :Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15, 1873 with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture and Inba Prefecture...

, Japan. Along with Kuon-ji in Yamanashi Prefecture

Yamanashi Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshū. The capital is the city of Kōfu.-Pre-history to the 14th century:People have been living in the Yamanashi area for about 30,000 years...

, Ikegami Honmon-ji

Ikegami Honmon-ji

is a Buddhist temple in the south of Tokyo, erected where Nichiren is said to have died.A short walk from Ikegami Station or Nishi-Magome Station , Ikegami Honmon-ji contains a number of buildings, most of which have been reconstructed since the bombing of 15 March 1945...

 in the south of Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, and Seichō-ji also in Kamogawa City, Tanjō-ji is one of the "Four Sacred Places of Nichiren Buddhism

Nichiren Buddhism

Nichiren Buddhism is a branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th century Japanese monk Nichiren...

."

History

A temple was founded on the location of Nichiren

Nichiren

Nichiren was a Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period in Japan. Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, entitled Myōhō-Renge-Kyō in Japanese, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment and the chanting of Nam-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō as the essential practice of the teaching...

’s birthplace in October 1276 by one of his disciples, Nike. However, this early temple was destroyed by an earthquake in 1498, and again by an earthquake and tsunami

Tsunami

A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...

 in 1703, and was subsequently relocated further inland. The temple underwent an expansion and reconstruction in the early 1700’s under the sponsorship of Tokugawa Mitsukuni

Tokugawa Mitsukuni

or was a prominent daimyo who was known for his influence in the politics of the early Edo period. He was the third son of Tokugawa Yorifusa and succeeded him, becoming the second daimyo of the Mito domain....

. However, with the exception of the Niōmon

Niōmon

The is the Japanese name of a Buddhist temple gate guarded by two wooden warriors called Niō . The gate is called Heng Ha Er Jiang in China and Geumgangmun in Korea. The two statues are inside the two posts of the gate itself, one at the left, one at the right...

, all structures in the temple burned down in a fire in 1758. The temple has slowly reconstructed since that time, and has added numerous structures in the late 20th century through the efforts of a vigorous lay organization.

Important Structures and Cultural Treasures

• Niōmon, 1703
• Main Hall, 1991
• Soshi-dō, 1842
• Honshi-den Hoto Pagoda, 1988
• Treasury, 1989
• Kyakuden, 1933
• Seven mandalas inscribed by Nichiren (Kamakura period}

External links

• Tanjō-ji at Nichiren sect official website