Tsukiji Hongan-ji Information Centre 2018

Tsukiji Hongan-ji goudoubo interior 2018

, officially romanized ''Hongwan-ji'', is a Jodo Shinshu

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 located in the

Tsukiji Tsukiji (築地) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. Literally meaning "reclaimed land", it lies near the Sumida River on land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay in the 18th century during the Edo period. The eponymous Tsukiji fish market opened in 193 ...

district of

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

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 ...

. The temple is adjacent to

Tsukiji Station is a subway station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line in Tsukiji, Chūō, Tokyo, Japan, operated by the Tokyo subway operator Tokyo Metro. Lines Tsukiji Station is served by the Hibiya Line, and is numbered H-11. It is located 10.7 km from th ...

on the

Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line The is a subway line in Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by Tokyo Metro. The line was named after the Hibiya area in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda's Yurakucho district, under which it passes. On maps, diagrams and signboards, the line is shown using t ...

History

Tsukiji Hongan-ji's predecessor was the temple of Edo-Asakusa Gobo (江戸浅草御坊), built in

Asakusa is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is known for Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as . History The development of Asaku ...

in 1617 at the behest of the 12th

monshu The Monshu (門主 or 門首), or ''keeper of the gate'' is a term used to Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism that refers to the spiritual leader of either the Nishi Hongan-ji branch, or the Higashi Hongan-ji branch, both direct descendants of its founder Sh ...

, Junnyo Shōnin.English-language pamphlet from Tsukiji Hongan-ji The temple burned during a citywide fire in 1657, and the

shogunate , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

refused to allow it to be rebuilt in Asakusa due to a prior project there. Instead, the temple was moved to a new parcel of land being reclaimed along the

Sumida River The is a river that flows through central Tokyo, Japan. It branches from the Arakawa River at Iwabuchi (in Kita-ku) and flows into Tokyo Bay. Its tributaries include the Kanda and Shakujii rivers. It passes through the Kita, Adachi, Arak ...

—today's Tsukiji. This land was said to have been reclaimed by Jodo Shinshu followers themselves who lived at nearby Tsukudajima. The name ''Tsukiji'' comes from the

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

characters meaning "reclaimed land". This new temple, named Tsukiji Gobo (築地御坊), stood until it was leveled by the

Great Kantō earthquake Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

of 1923. The present Tsukiji Hongan-ji was designed by

Itō Chūta was a Japanese architect, architectural historian, and critic. He is recognized as the leading architect and architectural theorist of early 20th-century Imperial Japan. Biography Second son of a doctor in Yonezawa, Yamagata, Yonezawa, present- ...

of the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

and built between 1931 and 1934. It is noted for its unique architecture, influenced by temples in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Hongan-ji is a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

destination due to its artifacts of

Prince Shotoku A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The fem ...

Shinran Shonin ''Popular Buddhism in Japan: Shin Buddhist Religion & Culture'' by Esben Andreasen, pp. 13, 14, 15, 17. University of Hawaiʻi Press 1998, . was a Japanese Buddhist monk, who was born in Hino (now a part of Fushimi, Kyoto) at the turbulent close ...

, and Shonyō Shōnin. Shonyō Shōnin (1911-2002), the 23rd

is enshrined to the left of the main altar in honor of his contributions to the spreading the Jodo Shinshu teachings abroad so that followers would not be in "name only". The wake of

Hiroaki Shukuzawa was a Japanese rugby union player and coach, who coached the Japan national rugby union team between 1989 and 1991. As a player, he was capped three times by Japan as a scrum-half, and he also advised the Japan Rugby Football Union. He also h ...

was held there on June 22, 2006, and a memorial to popular rock musician

Hideto Matsumoto , known professionally as hide, was a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band X Japan from 1987 to 1997 and rose to prominence in Asia as a solo artist f ...

, better known as ''hide'', can be found in the main hall itself, as the temple was the site of the musician's funerary ceremony in 1998.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Religious buildings and structures completed in 1617 1617 establishments in Japan Buddhist temples in Tokyo Buildings and structures in Chūō, Tokyo Shinshū Honganji-ha temples Tsukiji

History

See also

References

External links