As with last year, this year I visited the Sengakuji (Sengaku Temple) located in the Takanawa neighbourhood of Minato-ku, Tokyo. Built in A.D. 1612 at a different location, it was destroyed by fire in A.D. 1641. The reigning Shogun of the time, Tokugawa Iemitsu, ordered five clans to rebuild it at its current location. It was considered one of the three major temples of the Sōtō sect of Buddhism.
The Chumon, the Middle Gate and second of three historical gates (the Outer Gate, the Somon, has since been destroyed).
The calligraphy above the Chumon Gate reads "Banshozan" and means "Mountain of Many Pines", the mountain name of Sengakuji.
The Sanmon, or Maing Gate. The kanji reads "Sengakuji".
The statue of Oishi Kuranosuke, the leader of the 47 Ronin (more on him tomorrow).
The main temple:
Ash from burning incense:
Looking back towards the Sanmon:
A memorial to the 20th Century priest Sawaki Kodo Roshi:
Good timing on your part TB, in all these photos today can't see one other person in them. Everything looks so ordered and neat, no trash anywhere.
ReplyDeleteNylon12, this is Monday morning around 1000 - the perfect time to visit such places.
DeleteIn general, I find that I prefer to take my pictures without people. Yes, it loses some element of human interest, but I like sites to speak for themselves.
Japan remains remarkably clean and trash free, even after having visited over time for almost the last 20 years.
I always love a good ronin story. I am always reminded of Tom Cruise's character in "The Last Samurai".
ReplyDeleteEd, stay tuned for tomorrow then - we get to revisit The 47 Ronin.
DeleteThe Last Samurai was actually quite good -historically a bit inaccurate, but captured the essence perfectly in my opinion.
I thought I made a comment the other day, but apparently I never hit 'publish.' I was curious as to whether the temple has regular services. It's traditional architecture amongst the modern buildings is quite nice. Also nice, is that bamboo fence around the tree. Makes me wish I had a little grove of giant bamboo for building materials.
ReplyDeleteLeigh, I believe they do have regular services - this location is an active temple and monastery.
DeleteOne of the most strangely amusing things to me is looking over the temple and tombs and seeing high rises in the background.
Bamboo is a highly useful material. Sadly, it can get out of control pretty quickly and I believe could be considered an invasive species in some areas.