Kankikō-ji (歓喜光寺) is a Buddhist temple affiliated with Ji-shū, located in Yamashina-ku,

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

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 was founded in 1291 by Shōkai (聖戒) with the support of Grand Chancellor

Kujō Tadanori , son of regent Tadaie, was a ''kugyō'' or Japanese court noble of 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, ...

. Shōkai was a close relative and disciple of

Ippen 1234–1289 also known as Zuien was a Japanese Buddhist itinerant preacher (''hijiri'') who founded the branch of Pure Land Buddhism. Life Ippen was born at Hōgon-ji, a temple in Iyo Province (modern Ehime Prefecture) on the island of Shikok ...

, the founder of Ji shū. During its history, the temple suffered several fires and was completely moved on several occasions: notably between 1573 and 1592, in 1907 and finally in 1975. In addition to the main hall dedicated to

Amida 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 ...

, Kankikō-ji includes several secondary temples including one dedicated to Jizō Bosatsu. Kankikō-ji is best known for holding the original '' Illustrated Biography of the Itinerant Monk Ippen'' (National Treasure) since 1299, which is both the oldest surviving document on Ippen's life and the founding of Ji shū and a major work of art among

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 ...

emakimono Illustrated handscrolls, , or is an illustrated horizontal narration system of painted handscrolls that dates back to Nara-period (710–794 CE) Japan. Initially copying their much older Chinese counterparts in style, during the succeeding H ...

''.'' The temple is still the legal owner, but for preservation reasons the work is stored at the

and Nara National Museums.

References

Ji temples Buddhist temples in Kyoto {{Japan-Buddhist-temple-stub