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 ...

of the

Rinzai school The Rinzai school (, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng), named after Linji Yixuan (Romaji: Rinzai Gigen, died 866 CE) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, along with Sōtō and Ōbaku. The Chinese Linji school, Linji s ...

located in

Gifu is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...

Gifu Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,910,511 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It is one of the Mino Thirty-three Kannon.Mino 33 Kannon
Mino Seigoku Sanjūsan Kannon Reijō-kai. Accessed June 6, 2008. It is located near the Takatomi-chō area of Yamagata, so it is also sometimes referred to as Takatomi Dairyū-ji (高富大龍寺). Also, it has an annual festival at which ''

daruma doll A is a hollow, round, Japanese traditional dolls, Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen tradition of Buddhism. These dolls, though typically red and depicting the Indian monk, Bodhidharma, vary greatly in c ...

s'' are burned, giving it another nickname, Daruma Kannon (だるま観音).Mino 33 Kannon - Dairyū-ji
Mino Seigoku Sanjūsan Kannon Reijō-kai. Accessed April 29, 2009. The temple has strong ties to both the

Toki clan The is a Japanese kin group.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Toki," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 61 retrieved 2013-5-9. History The Toki claim desce ...

and Inaba Ittetsu.

History

Dairyū-ji was constructed as a national shrine in the

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...

during the reign of

Empress Jitō was the 41st emperor of Japan, monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 持統天皇 (41)/ref> according to the traditional List of Emperors of Japan, order of succession. Jitō's reign spanned the years from Jitō period, 68 ...

. During the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

, it came under the influence of the Shingon school of Buddhism.

Emperor Go-Shirakawa was the 77th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His de jure reign spanned the years from 1155 through 1158, though arguably he effectively maintained imperial power for almost thirty-seven years through the ''in ...

enshrined a

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...

in the temple. During the

Meiō , also known as Mei-ō, was a after ''Entoku'' and before '' Bunki''. This period spanned the years from through . Reigning emperors were and . Change of era * 1492 : The era name was changed to mark an event or a number of events. The old ...

era, the Toki clan gained power of the area and control of the temple. In 1502, just after the Meiō era ended, the temple came under control of the

Rinzai The Rinzai school (, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng), named after Linji Yixuan (Romaji: Rinzai Gigen, died 866 CE) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, along with Sōtō and Ōbaku. The Chinese Linji school of ...

school of

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

''Daruma'' Memorial Service

The temple holds an annual memorial service each year for ''daruma'' whose wishes have been fulfilled. Approximately 10,000 figures are burned each year and it takes an entire day for the figures to burn. Until 2007, the festival was held every year on January 18, but the date has since been changed to the second Sunday of the year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dairyu-ji Gifu Buildings and structures in Gifu Buddhist temples in Gifu Prefecture Gifu Prefecture designated tangible cultural property