is a Buddhist temple of the

Rinzai The Rinzai school ( ja, , Rinzai-shū, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (along with Sōtō and Ōbaku). The Chinese Linji school of Chan was first transmitted to Japan by My ...

Tenryū sect Tenryū may refer to: *Tenryū, Shizuoka, a city * Tenryū, Nagano, a village * Tenryū River *Tenryū-ji, a temple * , several ships People with the name * Tenryū Saburō (Saburo Wakuta, 1903-1989), Japanese sumo wrestler and martial arts fighte ...

located in Kita Ward,

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ...

, Japan, and one of two funeral temples (''

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 jus ...

'') dedicated to

Ashikaga Takauji was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate."Ashikaga Takauji" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Muromac ...

, first ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators 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, though during part of the Kamakur ...

'' of the Ashikaga dynasty. Its main object of worship is Shakyamuni,

Encyclopedia Nipponica The is an encyclopedia of Japan and the Japanese people, first published by Shogakukan from 1984 to 1989 in 25 volumes. After 10 years of preparation, over 130,000 entries and 500,000 indexes were organized in alphabetical order in more than 23,0 ...

and its honorary '' sangō'' prefix is .

History

Great mandala of the Tôji imperial temple in Kyoto (detail) Photo taken in 2011 in the Heidelbach hotel, annex of the Guimet museum. Tōji-in was founded at the foot of

Mount Kinugasa Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...

in 1341 by Takauji himself in fulfillment of a vow.Keene (2005:2) He did so under the guidance of famous Zen teacher, calligraphist, poet and

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

designer

Musō Soseki was a Rinzai Zen Buddhist monk and teacher, and a calligraphist, poet and garden designer. The most famous monk of his time, he is also known as ("national Zen teacher"), an honorific conferred on him by Emperor Go-Daigo.''Musō Soseki'', Ky ...

, who created the Zen gardens and ponds of the temple. Tōji-in later became the Ashikaga dynasty's funeral temple and all fifteen of the Ashikaga ''shōguns'' are buried here. The temple's name was later chosen as one of Takauji's two posthumous names, . (The other is Chōju-inden, from the name of Takauji's second ''bodaiji''. See footnote.) Tōji-in was number one of the Kyoto Jissetsu, the temples immediately below the Kyoto Gozan within the

Five Mountain System The system, more commonly called simply ''Five Mountain System'', was a network of state-sponsored Chan (Zen) Buddhist temples created in China during the Southern Song (1127–1279). The term "mountain" in this context means "temple" or "monas ...

nationwide network of Zen temples. Because of its association with the Ashikaga, believed by the Emperor's supporters to be traitors because they had usurped imperial power, during the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were r ...

the temple sustained some damage. In recent years the temple has been restored to increase its appeal as a tourist attraction.

Temple precincts and gardens

The Main Hall (''

hondō Main hall is the building within a Japanese Buddhist temple compound ('' garan'') which enshrines the main object of veneration.Kōjien Japanese dictionary Because the various denominations deliberately use different terms, this single English t ...

'') was originally a ''tacchū'' (subtemple) of

Myōshin-ji is a temple complex in Kyoto, Japan, and head temple of the associated branch of Rinzai Zen Buddhism. The Myōshin-ji school is by far the largest school in Rinzai Zen, approximately as big as the other thirteen branches combined: it contains wit ...

built in 1616 by order of

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of History of Japan#Medieval Japan (1185–1573/1600), medieval and Edo period, early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retai ...

Fukushima Masanori was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the late Sengoku period to early Edo period who served as lord of the Hiroshima Domain. A retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he fought in the Battle of Shizugatake in 1583, and soon became known as one of Seven Sp ...

. The garden, the ponds, and the tearoom were designed by Musō Soseki. Tōji-in's treasure owns a drawing of the temple which is an Important Cultural Property.

The ''Reikō-den''

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fel ...

and all the fifteen Ashikaga ''shōguns'' are enshrined in a small building called .Photos of the statues
The sixteen statues, which are of limited artistic value, are lined up in two rows on the sides of the room, each sitting and carrying a

shaku Shaku may refer to: * Shaku (unit) * Shaku (ritual baton) * Buddhist surname of Japan * Shaku, Iran , native_name_lang = fa , settlement_type = Village , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_alt ...

symbolizing their shogunal power. Their sculptors are unknown, but they have been tentatively dated to the early seventeenth century. The presence among the Ashikaga ''shōguns'' of a statue of Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in ...

, suggests that Tokugawa wished to link himself to the

Ashikaga clan The was a prominent Japanese samurai clan which established the Muromachi shogunate and ruled Japan from roughly 1333 to 1573. The Ashikaga were descended from a branch of the Minamoto clan, deriving originally from the town of Ashikag ...

and give an impression of continuity between the two dynasties.Keene (2005:168) Like them, Ieyasu claimed to be a descendant of the

Minamoto clan was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility from 1192 to 1333. The practice was most prevalent during th ...

. In 1863 nine men broke into the ''Reikō-den'' and stole the heads of the first three Ashikaga ''shōguns'', Takauji, Yoshiakira and

Yoshimitsu is a name used by three different characters who appear in the ''Tekken'' and ''Soulcalibur'' series of fighting games by Namco. The first version of Yoshimitsu made his debut in the original ''Tekken'' in 1994. The second version of Yoshimitsu ...

, as a form of revenge for their role in usurping the emperor's power during the Nanbokuchō period. The severed heads were then exposed on the banks of the

Kamo river The is located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The riverbanks are popular walking spots for residents and tourists. In summer, restaurants open balconies looking out to the river. There are walkways running alongside the river, and some stepping ...

together with placards listing their crimes against the nation.

References

Bibliography

Daijirin is a comprehensive single-volume Japanese dictionary edited by , and first published by in 1988. This title is based upon two early Sanseidō dictionaries edited by Shōzaburō Kanazawa (金沢庄三郎, 1872–1967), ''Jirin'' (辞林 "Forest ...

, 2nd edition *

Daijisen The is a general-purpose Japanese dictionary published by Shogakukan in 1995 and 1998. It was designed as an "all-in-one" dictionary for native speakers of Japanese, especially high school and university students. History Shogakukan intended fo ...

, 1st edition
Encyclopedia Nipponica
accessed on April 26, 2009 * *

Kōjien is a single-volume Japanese dictionary first published by Iwanami Shoten in 1955. It is widely regarded as the most authoritative dictionary of Japanese, and newspaper editorials frequently cite its definitions. As of 2007, it had sold 11 m ...

6th edition, DVD Version * {{DEFAULTSORT:Toji-In Buddhist temples in Kyoto

History

Temple precincts and gardens

The ''Reikō-den''

See also

References

Bibliography