Kofu Gozan
Kōfu Gozan ( Japanese 甲 府 五 山 ) are five Zen Buddhist temples of the Rinzai-shū , more precisely the Miyōshinji sect within the Rinzai-shū, whose main temple (of the same name) is in Kyoto. The term Gozan for the five highest-ranking temples also appears in Kyōto ( Kyōto Gozan ) and Kamakura ( Kamakura Gozan ). They are also counted among the 108 spiritual places of Kai .
Emergence
The Kofu Gozan were relocated to Kofu by order of Takeda Shingen . With the award of the name Gozan (meaning: "Big Five", literally: "Five Mountains"), the top temples in the ranking system at the time, Takeda Shingen wanted to imitate the structure of the capital of that time, Kyōto (former name Heian-kyō ). On the one hand, this should increase the importance of his residence city, Kofu. He also promoted gold mining, improved agriculture, passed new laws and commissioned irrigation canals.
On the other hand, he had an interest in promoting Rinzai Buddhism. He was a self-practicing devotee and Rinzai was considered the ideal moral foundation for a samurai . When he chose Kofu as the administrative seat of Kai Province , he chose temples from the surrounding area and had them relocated there. But in contrast to Kyoto, he did not set a strict ranking of the temples among each other, so they were all allowed to use the same building material. That is why they can be arranged in any way, here it is shown divided from east to west. The systems are all located within the city of Kofu.
Similar plants at the same time
In addition to the Kofu Gozan, the Takeda have laid out other temples in Kai Province , today's Yamanashi Prefecture . The Erin-ji and the Zenkō-ji (Kōfu) , for example, are of national importance . Due to the historical connection to the Myōshinji school within the Rinzai-shū , all these facilities are dedicated to this direction.
Kofu Gozan
Buddha Hall (Butsuden) of Tokō-ji
Main hall (Hondō) of the Nōsei-ji
Main gate (sanmon) of the Chōzen-ji
Ascent road (Sandō) of the Enkō-in
Main gate (Sanmon) to the Hōsen-ji
