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Kinugawa Temple Ruins
The is an archaeological site with the ruins of an Asuka period Buddhist temple located in the Kinugawa neighborhood of the city of Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture, in the Kansai region of Japan. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1977. Overview Kinugawa temple ruins site is located at the narrowest point of Lake Biwa, at an elevation of 100 meters above sea level, or three meters above the surrounding paddy fields. The site is on a hill which has been artificially flattened and filled to make the temple precincts. From archaeological evidence it is believed to have been built in the latter half of the Asuka period (mid 7th century AD), and is thus one of the oldest Buddhist temple sites in Ōmi Province. It appears to have consisted of two buildings built on rammed earth platforms. The northern structure is believed to have been the Kondō, with a base that measured 18 meters east-to-west by 15 meters north-to-south, with some remaining foundation stones an ...
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Japanese Pagoda
Multi-storied pagodas in wood and stone, and a ''gorintō'' Pagodas in Japan are called , sometimes or , and derive historically from the Chinese pagoda, itself an interpretation of the Indian ''stupa''. Like the ''stupa'', pagodas were originally used as reliquaries, but in many cases ended up losing this function. Pagodas are quintessentially Buddhist and an important component of Buddhist temples in Japan, Japanese Buddhist temple compounds but, because until the Shinbutsu bunri, Kami and Buddhas Separation Act of 1868, a Shinto shrine was normally Shinbutsu-shūgō, also a Buddhist temple and vice versa, they are not rare at shrines either. The famous Itsukushima Shrine, for example, has one. After the Meiji Restoration the word ''tō'', once used exclusively in a religious context, came to mean also "tower" in the western sense, as for example in . Of the Japanese pagoda's many forms, some are built in wood and are collectively known as , but most are carved out of ston ...
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Ōtsu
270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153,458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . History Ōtsu is part of ancient Ōmi Province and has been settled since at least the Yayoi period. It was an important center of inland water transportation on Lake Biwa and was referred to in the Man'yōshū as and . It was also on the main land routes, the Tōkaidō and the Nakasendō connecting the eastern provinces with the ancient capitals of Japan. Additionally, the ancient Hokurikudō, which connected Kyoto to the provinces of northern Honshu, ran through Ōtsu. From 667 to 672, the Ōmi Ōtsu Palace was founded by Emperor Tenji was the capital of Japan. Following the Jinshin War Ōtsu was renamed . A new capital, Heian-kyō, (now Kyoto), was established in the immediate neighborhood in 794, and Ōtsu (meaning "big port") was revived as an imp ...
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History Of Shiga Prefecture
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categorize history as a social science, while others see it as part of the humanities or consider it a hybrid discipline. Similar debates surround the purpose of history—for example, whether its main aim is theoretical, to uncover the truth, or practical, to learn lessons from the past. In a more general sense, the term ''history'' refers not to an academic field but to the past itself, times in the past, or to individual texts about the past. Historical research relies on primary and secondary sources to reconstruct past events and validate interpretations. Source criticism is used to evaluate these sources, assessing their authenticity, content, and reliability. Historians strive to integrate the perspectives of several sources to develop a ...
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Buddhist Archaeological Sites In Japan
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century Before the Common Era, BCE. It is the Major religious groups, world's fourth-largest religion, with about 500 million followers, known as Buddhists, who comprise four percent of the global population. It arose in the eastern Gangetic plain as a movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia. Buddhism has subsequently played a major role in Asian culture and spirituality, eventually spreading to Western world, the West in the 20th century. According to tradition, the Buddha instructed his followers in a path of bhavana, development which leads to Enlightenment in Buddhism, awakening and moksha, full liberation from ''Duḥkha, dukkha'' (). He regarded this path as a Middle Way between extremes su ...
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List Of Historic Sites Of Japan (Shiga)
This list is of the Monuments of Japan, Historic Sites of Japan located within the Prefectures of Japan, Prefecture of Shiga Prefecture, Shiga. National Historic Sites As of 1 January 2021, fifty Sites have been Cultural Properties of Japan, designated as being of national Values (heritage), significance (including two *List of Special Places of Scenic Beauty, Special Historic Sites and Special Natural Monuments, Special Historic Sites); Genbao Castle Site spans the prefectural borders with Fukui Prefecture, Fukui. Prefectural Historic Sites As of 1 May 2020, forty-four Sites have been designated as being of prefectural importance. Municipal Historic Sites As of 1 May 2020, a further eighty-seven Sites have been designated as being of municipal importance. See also * Cultural Properties of Japan * Ōmi Province * List of Places of Scenic Beauty of Japan (Shiga) * List of Cultural Properties of Japan - historical mat ...
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Kosei Line
The is a commuter rail line in Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto, Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line was completed in 1974 by the former Japanese National Railways (JNR) to provide faster access from the Kansai region to the Hokuriku region. It originates at Yamashina Station in Yamashina-ku, Kyoto and ends at Ōmi-Shiotsu Station in Nagahama, Shiga. Its name means "the line to the west of the lake," indicating that it approximately parallels the western shore of Lake Biwa, Biwako. Trains continue from Omi-Shiotsu Station to Tsuruga Station on the Hokuriku Main Line Yamashina to Kyoto Station on the Tōkaidō Main Line for convenient transfer to lines serving the Kansai as well as the Tōkaidō Shinkansen. In addition to local, Rapid and Special Rapid services, limited express trains such as the ''Thunderbird (train), Thunderbird'', as well as freight trains are frequently operated on the line. Only few of limited express trains stop a ...
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JR West
, also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and is also one of only three Japan Railways Group constituents of the Nikkei 225 index: the others are East Japan Railway Company, JR East and Central Japan Railway Company, JR Central. It was also listed in the Nagoya Stock Exchange, Nagoya and Fukuoka Stock Exchange, Fukuoka stock exchanges until late 2020. Lines Shinkansen * Hokuriku Shinkansen ( - ) * San'yō Shinkansen * Hakata Minami Line :: Officially not a Shinkansen JR-West's highest-grossing line is the Sanyo Shinkansen high-speed rail line between Osaka and Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka. The Sanyo Shinkansen alone accounts for about 40% of JR-West's passenger revenues. The company also operates Hakata Minami Line, a short commuter line with Shinkansen trains in Fukuoka, Fuku ...
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Katata Station
is a passenger railway station located in the city of Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan, operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Lines Katata Station is served by the Kosei Line, and is from the starting point of the line at and from . Station layout The station consists of two elevated island platforms with the station building underneath. The station has a Midori no Madoguchi staffed ticket office. Platforms Adjacent Stations History The station opened on 20 July 1974 as a station on the Japan National Railway (JNR). The station became part of the West Japan Railway Company on 1 April 1987 due to the privatization and dissolution of the JNR. Station numbering was introduced in March 2018 with Kakata being assigned station number JR-B25. Passenger statistics In fiscal 2019, the station was used by an average of 7,843 passengers daily (boarding passengers only). Surrounding area * Mangetsu-ji, noted for its "floating hall" ''Ukimidō'' * Dejima ...
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Ōtsu Palace
270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153,458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . History Ōtsu is part of ancient Ōmi Province and has been settled since at least the Yayoi period. It was an important center of inland water transportation on Lake Biwa and was referred to in the Man'yōshū as and . It was also on the main land routes, the Tōkaidō and the Nakasendō connecting the eastern provinces with the ancient capitals of Japan. Additionally, the ancient Hokurikudō, which connected Kyoto to the provinces of northern Honshu, ran through Ōtsu. From 667 to 672, the Ōmi Ōtsu Palace was founded by Emperor Tenji was the capital of Japan. Following the Jinshin War Ōtsu was renamed . A new capital, Heian-kyō, (now Kyoto), was established in the immediate neighborhood in 794, and Ōtsu (meaning "big port") was revived as an imp ...
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Kofun Period
The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is the earliest era of recorded history in Japan, but studies depend heavily on archaeology since the chronology of historical sources tends to be distorted. ''Kofun'' is Japanese for the type of tumulus, burial mound dating from this era. It was a period of cultural import. Continuing from the Yayoi period, the Kofun period is characterized by influence from China and the Korean Peninsula; archaeologists consider it a shared culture across the southern Korean Peninsula, Kyūshū and Honshū. On the other hand, the most prosperous keyhole-shaped burial mounds in Japan during this period were approximately 5,000 in Japan from the middle of the 3rd century in the Yayoi period to the 7th century in the Asuka period, and many of them had huge tom ...
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Wani (scholar)
Wani () is a semi-legendary scholar who is said to have been sent to Japan by Baekje of southwestern Korea during the reign of Emperor Ōjin. He used to be associated with the introduction of the Chinese writing system to Japan. He is considered one of the three most influential Toraijins alongside Yuzuki no Kimi and Achi no omi during the Kofun period. Original sources and analysis Wani is mentioned only in Japanese history books; he is not recorded in Korean or Chinese sources. The main sources of Wani's biography are the '' Kojiki'' (680) and the '' Nihon Shoki'' (720). These stories have long been questioned by scholars. Ten volumes are too much for the ''Analects'', and more importantly, his alleged arrival predates the composition of the ''Thousand Character Classic'' (the early 6th century). Arai Hakuseki (1657–1725) considered that Wani had brought a certain book of Elementary Learning which the ''Kojiki'' had confused with the ''Thousand Character Classic''. ...
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