RSS
Home
Zenko-ji Temple, center of Nagano
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Zenko-ji in Nagano City
Many towns and cities in Japan grew up around either a castle, harbor, or a temple, the modern cities of Kyoto and Tokyo included. The importance of castles and temples to trade and the livelihoods of ordinary people as well as rulers is demonstrated by the sheer number of cities that have at least one of them. Nagano is one such town.
Made famous by the 1998 winter Olympics, Nagano is a small city in northern Japan popular for skiing. While the city itself is relatively new, the current municipal city having been founded in 1897, the temple it was built around, as well as the town that existed before, are not. Zenko-ji was built in the 7th century as a Buddhist temple. It belongs to multiple sects of Buddhism because it was founded before the divisions occurred and is managed by a mix of monks from two different sects. It was made famous for its use as a base by Uesugi Kenshin during his battles with Takeda Shingen in the 16th century. Currently, it is one of the few remaining sites for pilgrimages in Japan.
Zenko-ji was built to enshrine and image of the Amida Buddha, which had, according to legend, caused dispute between two different clans and had subsequently been dumped into a canal, only to be rescued by a Yoshimitsu Honda. The temple is named after Yoshimitsu using the Chines transliteration of his name as 'Zenko.'
Zenko-ji also made recent headlines when it refused to participate in the torch-bearing ceremony for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, claiming solidarity with the Tibetan Buddhists who were then protesting. Zenko-ji was vandalised as a result. It has since been cleaned up. In the above picture, Zenko-ji is decorated with lanterns for a festival during the August Obon season. It attracts many visitors every year who wish to touch the statue of Binzuru, a physician who was one of Buddha's followers, in order to be cured of physical ailments, and a key hanging on a wall in a completely dark corridor, in order to gain enlightenment.
Related Articles:
Comments
