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

Kōyasan Shingon-shū is a Japanese sect of Shingon Buddhism. Headquartered on Mount Kōya in Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 876,030 () and a geographic area of . Wakaya ...

sect in the Hike neighborhood of the city of

Izunokuni 270px, Izunokuni City Hall is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 48,579 in 21,257 households and a population density of 506 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Izuno ...

Shizuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Pref ...

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 ...

. Its main image is a statue of

Amida Nyōrai Amida can mean : Places and jurisdictions * Amida (Mesopotamia), now Diyarbakır, an ancient city in Asian Turkey; it is (nominal) seat of: ** The Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Amida ** The Latin titular Metropolitan see of Amida of the Ro ...

. The temple grounds were designated a National Historic Site on February 14, 1973. The temple is noted for a set of statues by the famed

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

sculptor

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 fathe ...

which are collectively designated a

National Treasure of Japan Some of the National Treasures of Japan A is " Tangible Cultural Properties designated by law in modern Japan as having extremely high value." Specifically, it refers to buildings, arts, and crafts designated as especially valuable from ...

History

Ganjōju-in is located at the eastern foot of Mount Moriyama at an elevation of 100 meters along the

Kano River The is an A class river in Shizuoka Prefecture of central Japan. It is long and has a watershed of . The Kano River originates from Mount Amagi in central Izu Peninsula and follows a generally northern path into Suruga Bay at Numazu is a ci ...

in the

Izu Peninsula The is a mountainous peninsula with a deeply indented coastline to the west of Tokyo on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the island of Honshu, Japan, the largest of the four main islands of Japan. Formerly known as Izu Province, Izu peninsu ...

. Per the ''

Azuma Kagami is a Japanese historical chronicle. The medieval text chronicles events of the Kamakura Shogunate from Minamoto no Yoritomo's rebellion against the Taira clan in Izokuni of 1180 to Munetaka Shinnō (the 6th shōgun) and his return to Kyoto in ...

'', Ganjōju-in was founded in 1189 by

Hōjō Tokimasa was a Japanese samurai lord who was the first ''shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate and head of the Hōjō clan. He was ''shikken'' from 1203 until his abdication in 1205, and Protector of Kyoto from 1185 to 1186. Background The Hō ...

to pray for the victory of the Minamoto forces in their campaign against the

Northern Fujiwara The Northern Fujiwara (奥州藤原氏 ''Ōshū Fujiwara-shi'') were a Japanese noble family that ruled the Tōhoku region (the northeast of Honshū) of Japan during the 12th century as their own realm.

Hiraizumi is a town located in Nishiiwai District, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 7,408 and a population density of in 2,616 households. The total area of the town was . It is noted for the Historic Monuments and Sit ...

. However, the temple's famed statues by

are all dated 1186, or three years before the campaign, indicating that the temple was actually intended as a ''

bodaiji A in Japanese Buddhism is a temple which, generation after generation, takes care of a family's dead, giving them burial and performing ceremonies in their soul's favor.Iwanami kojien The name is derived from the term , which originally meant ju ...

'' for the

Hōjō clan The was a Japanese samurai family who controlled the hereditary title of '' shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate between 1203 and 1333. Despite the title, in practice the family wielded actual political power in Japan during this perio ...

. The temple continued to expand during the tenures of

Hōjō Yoshitoki was the second Hōjō ''shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate and head of the Hōjō clan. He was the second son of Hōjō Tokimasa. He was ''shikken'' from the abdication of his father Tokimasa in 1205 until his death in 1224. Early y ...

and

Hōjō Yasutoki Hōjō Yasutoki (; 1183 – July 14, 1242) was the third ''shikken'' (regent) of the Kamakura shogunate in Japan. He strengthened the political system of the Hōjō regency. Life He was the eldest son of second ''shikken'' Hōjō Yoshitoki. A ...

, becoming the largest and most important temple in

Izu Province was a province of Japan in the area now part of Shizuoka Prefecture and Tokyo. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Izu''" in . Izu bordered on Sagami and Suruga Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . The mainland portion of Izu Prov ...

during the

. However, the temple's prosperity was short-lived. During the wars of

Hōjō Soun Hojo or Hōjō may refer to: Hojo or HoJo: *Howard Johnson's, a U.S. chain of restaurants and hotels *A nickname for a number of people named Howard Johnson *A nickname for Howard Jones (British musician), an synthpop singer, musician and songwr ...

in the late

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

, the temple was burned down in 1491 and although reconstructed, was burned down again by the forces of

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

during the 1590 Siege of Odawara. Under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, the temple was rebuilt in by

Hōjō Ujisada Hojo or Hōjō may refer to: Hojo or HoJo: *Howard Johnson's, a U.S. chain of restaurants and hotels *A nickname for a number of people named Howard Johnson *A nickname for Howard Jones (British musician), an synthpop singer, musician and songwr ...

(1703-1758) ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' of

Sayama Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Kawachi Province in what is now the southeastern portion of modern-day Osaka Prefecture. It was centered around the Sayama ''jin'ya'' which was located in what ...

and the present

Hondō Main hall or Main Temple is the building within a Japanese Buddhist monastery compound ('' garan'') which enshrines the main object of veneration.Kōjien Japanese dictionary Because the various denominations deliberately use different terms, thi ...

dates from 1789, although all buildings of the temple were extensively rebuilt in 1967. Then layout of the current temple is consistent with its description in the ''Azuma Kagami'' and per

archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

s conducted in 1970, the foundations of a number of structures mentioned in the ''Azuma Kagami'' but no longer existent today were located. Excavated old

roof tile Roof tiles are overlapping tiles designed mainly to keep out precipitation such as rain or snow, and are traditionally made from locally available materials such as clay or slate. Later tiles have been made from materials such as concrete, glass ...

s and pottery shards are on display at the Nagiyama Folk Museum. The temple is about a 15-minute walk from Nirayama Station on the

Izuhakone Railway Sunzu Line The is a commuter railway line of the Izuhakone Railway, a private railroad in Japan. The line connects Mishima Station in the city of Mishima with Shuzenji Station in the city of Izu, both within Shizuoka Prefecture. The name "Sunzu" comes ...

Cultural properties

National Treasures

Ganjōju-in statues by Unkei

Ganjōju-in houses some of the few remaining works which can be definitely attributed to the

sculptor

: wooden images of

Amida Nyorai Amida can mean : Places and jurisdictions * Amida (Mesopotamia), now Diyarbakır, an ancient city in Asian Turkey; it is (nominal) seat of: ** The Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Amida ** The Latin titular Metropolitan see of Amida of the Ro ...

, Bishamonten,

Fudō Myōō or Achala (, "The Immovable", ), also known as (, "Immovable Lord") or (, "Noble Immovable Lord"), is a wrathful deity and '' dharmapala'' (protector of the Dharma) prominent in Vajrayana Buddhism and East Asian Buddhism., Jp. rel. dict., ...

and two attendants. Based on inscriptions found inside the sculptures, this group has been dated to 1186. Since June 19, 2013 these statues have been collectively designated a

Gallery

Ganjōju-in Hondō.jpg, Hondō Grave of Hōjō Tokimasa.jpg, Grave of Hōjō Tokimasa Grave of Ashikaga Chachamaru.jpg, Grave of Ashikaga Chachamaru

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ganjoju-in Buddhist temples in Shizuoka Prefecture Historic sites in Japan Kōyasan Shingon temples Izunokuni Izu Province National Treasures of Japan 1180s establishments in Japan Temples of Amitābha Shizuoka Prefecture designated tangible cultural property