Hōnen-in (法然院) is a Buddhist temple located in

Sakyō-ku, Kyoto is one of the eleven Wards of Kyoto, wards in the Municipalities of Japan, city of Kyoto, Kyoto, Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is located in the northeastern part of the city. History The meaning of ''sakyō'' (左京) is "on the Em ...

, western Japan. Honen-in is a single-estate temple located in Shikagaya, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto. It was originally part of the Jodo sect, but became independent and is now a single religious corporation. Its official name is Zenkisan Honen-in Manmukyoji Temple. Another name for the temple is "Honzan Shishiya Honen-in". Currently, part of the temple is open to the public for regular lectures and concerts.

History

The temple is said to have originated in the

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 ...

(1185-1333), when Honen, together with his disciples, built a hermitage where they practiced the Six-Session Worship and Praise (六時礼讃). In 1680, during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

(1603-1868), Manmin, the 38th head of Chion-in, proposed the construction of a Buddhist Nembutsu dojo in a place associated with Honen, and rebuilt the temple together with his pupil, Oshin Keikaku. Originally, it was an independent head temple within the Jodo sect, but in 1953, it became independent from the Jodo sect and became an independent religious corporation. The current head priest is Kajita Shinsho, the 31st head priest, who took office in 1984. His father, Mineo Hashimoto, was a philosopher who served as a professor at

Kobe University , also known in the Kansai region as , is a public research university located in Kobe, Hyōgo, Japan. The university was established in 1949, but the academic origins of Kobe University trace back to the establishment of Kobe Higher Commercia ...

. Due to its location near the Philosopher's Path, the temple attracts a large number of visitors during the spring and autumn tourist seasons. The

Nihonga ''Nihonga'' () is a Japanese style of painting that typically uses mineral pigments, and occasionally ink, together with other organic pigments on silk or paper. The term was coined during the Meiji period (1868–1912) to differentiate it from ...

painter

Inshō Dōmoto was a Japanese Nihonga artist. Biography His birth name was Sannosuke Dōmoto. At a young age, he started working for Heizo Tatsumura I. At the age of 28, he was exhibited with his work "Landscape of Fukakusa". His 1961 "Symphony" is considere ...

received a commission from the temple to redecorate two rooms. Normally the rooms had paintings by the Kano school. Two rooms that he painted in 1971 "Soft breeze approaching" depict the Pure Land. An abstract painting, it shows willows or trees swaying in the wind.

Precincts

The main hall was built in May 1681 as a guest hall. The main deity is a seated statue of

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, and a standing statue of Honen Shonin is also enshrined there.

Camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in tropical and subtropical areas in East Asia, eastern and South Asia, southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are ...

Garden Hojo - This is the former imperial palace of Emperor Gozei (built in 1595), which was moved here in 1687. The sliding door paintings by

Kano Mitsunobu Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...

are designated as Important Cultural Properties. Hojo Garden -
Pure Land garden
The famous "Zenkisui" water gushes out of the garden. Entrance

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(Storage room / repository) Jizo Pagoda Pagoda of 100,000 souls Auditorium - Originally a large bathroom built in 1694, it was renovated in 1977. Belfry Houshou Pond Sutra Repository - Built in 1737. Ten-story stone pagoda White sand platform San-mon - Thatched roof gate in the sukiya style. Grave of Konan Naito Grave of

Hajime Kawakami was a Japanese Marxist economist of the Taishō and early Shōwa periods. Biography Born in Yamaguchi, he graduated from Tokyo Imperial University. After writing for ''Yomiuri Shimbun'', he attained a professorship in economics at Kyoto Imp ...

Grave of Junichiro Tanizaki Grave of Shuzo Kuki Grave of Seiryo Hamada Grave of Heihachiro Fukuda Glass Karesansui "Tsunagaru" by Sento Nishinaka. Located on the approach to the temple. Main Gate

Cultural Properties

Important Cultural Properties Barrier painting Paulownia and bamboo in gold (upper room of Hojo): 3 panels attached to the alcove and 4 panels on the sliding doors Design of young pine trees in gold and underglaze blue (upper room of Hojo) Maki and aronia in gold on fusuma (the second room of the Hojo) Pine trees in gold and color, a pair of folding screens

Location and access

30 Gosho no dan-cho, Shikatani, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 6-minute walk from Houzen-in-cho bus stop on Kyoto City Express Bus Route 100; 10-minute walk from Jodoji bus stop on Kyoto City Express Bus Routes 5, 17, 203, and 204; 3-minute walk from Minami Tamachi bus stop on Kyoto City Express Bus Route 32. There is no charge to visit the temple grounds, and visitors are free to enter the temple from 6:00 to 16:00. The main hall and other buildings are usually closed to the public. The buildings are open to the public twice a year. The spring open house is from April 1 to 7, and the fall open house is from November 1 to 7. During these times, student guides from the university's antiquities club and other groups will be on hand. The auditorium is currently used as a rental gallery, and various exhibitions such as small-scale photography and painting shows are held there with free admission.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Honen-in Buddhist temples in Kyoto Hōnen Jōdo-shū temples