is a

Buddhist 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 ...

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

affiliated with

Nichiren-shū is a combination of several schools ranging from four of the original Nichiren Buddhism, Nichiren Buddhist schools that date back to Nichiren's original disciples, and part of the fifth: Overview The school is often referred to as the Minob ...

located in the city of

Hachiōji is a Cities of Japan, city located in the Western Tokyo, western portion of the Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 561,344, and a population density of 3,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It is ...

in western

Tōkyō Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital and most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is one of the most populous urban areas in the world. The Greater Tokyo Area, which ...

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 ''mountain name'' is . The temple is among those of the Pilgrimage (), and enshrines the goddess

Benzaiten is an East Asian Buddhism, East Asian Buddhist Dharmapala, goddess who originated from the Hindu Saraswati, the patroness of speech, the arts, and learning. Worship of Benzaiten arrived in Japan during the sixth through eighth centuries, mai ...

. It is popularly known as . It was formerly associated with () of the () branch of

Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism (), also known as ''Hokkeshū'' (, meaning ''Lotus Sect''), is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of the Kamakura period school ...

History

*1489 - The temple was established by Keiun Nicchō () for his retirement. *1490 - Establishment formerly recognized within . *1590 - Relocated to

Temple grounds

* Main Hall *

Cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

* Inari Hall (, ) *Ema shelf (, ) *Picture guide (, ), popularly known as

Faith tradition

As is customary of

Shinbutsu-shūgō ''Shinbutsu-shūgō'' (, "syncretism of kami and buddhas"), also called ''Shinbutsu-konkō'' (, "jumbling up" or "contamination of kami and buddhas"), is the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism in Japan, Buddhism that was Japan's main organized rel ...

tradition,

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

are also enshrined at Ryōhō-ji such as Ugajin, an agricultural deity closely associated with the Buddhist deity

Inari Ōkami , also called , is the Japanese ''kami'' of Red fox, foxes, Fertility (soil), fertility, rice, tea, sake, agriculture and Industrial sector, industry, and general prosperity and worldly success, and is one of the principal kami of Shinto. The nam ...

and Ukanomitama are both enshrined within the Inari Hall. The temple has also enshrined Daikokuten and Ryūjin in an effort to expand its popularity.

Moe-ji

In May 2009, the temple installed an illustrated signboard featuring Buddhist and Shinto deities as anime characters, prompting the popular name . In order to provide a cheerful atmosphere for visitors, the enshrined , an eccentric, stylized form of the goddess, is presented through various forms of music and entertainment. The temple abbot was introduced to voice actress and illustrator , who went on to play the role of Benzaiten in

cosplay Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and Fashion accessory, fashion accessories to represent a specific Character (arts), character. Cosplayers often i ...

, taking on the persona "Toro Benten." August 2010 saw the release of a theme song for Ryōhō-ji, , under the Ryōhō-j Records label created by music ensemble

IOSYS is a Japanese musical ensemble and ''doujin'' circle from Sapporo, Japan. The group is primarily known for producing rearrangements of music from the '' Touhou Project'' series of shoot 'em up video games. They are not signed to a label, inst ...

.八王子の「萌え寺」で奉納祭
日刊スポーツ 2010年11月14日閲覧 Toro-benten

References

External links

了法寺
Official website
かみたま元了法寺
YouTube channel 15th-century Buddhist temples Buddhist temples in Tokyo Hachiōji, Tokyo Nichiren-shū temples Moe (slang) Inari temples {{Japan-Buddhist-temple-stub