Setagaya Kannon-ji

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The gate to the temple
Plan of the temple (see text)

The Setagaya Kannon-ji ( Japanese 世 田 谷 観 音 寺 or more fully Setagayasan Kannon-ji (世 田 谷 山 観 音 寺)) is a temple of the Tendai direction of Buddhism in the Shimouma district of the Setagaya district in Tokyo , consecrated in 1951 . It is the 32nd place of worship of the 33 Edo-Reijo ( 江 戸 礼 所 ' Edo places of prayer' ).

In Setagaya there is Sakurajōsui the Mizō-in another Kannon temple ( Kannon-ji ), which dates from 1598.

history

The entrepreneur Ōta Mokuken ( 太 田 睦 賢 ) built this temple in 1950, which was consecrated in 1951. Ōta, who became a priest himself, was able to purchase some old temple buildings from different parts of Japan for the temple. A special concern of Ōtas may have been the memory of the kamikaze pilots in the Pacific War .

The attachment

Yumechigai Kannon, Nara

You enter the complex from the southeast and are greeted in front of the large temple gate by two lion dogs ( Komainu ), which were made in China in 1691. The temple gate is designed as a Niō gate ( 仁王 門 Niō-mon ; 1 in the plan), i.e. as a gate with the two temple guards ( Niō ) on the right and left in front of the passage. The main building of the temple, the "Kannon Hall" ( 観 音 堂 -dō ; 2) The Kannon is accompanied by Nikkō ( 日光 ) and Gakkō ( 月光 ), as well as by Hotei ( 布袋 ) and a Maria-Kannon . On the way there you have the hexagonal, two-story building, the Fudō-dō ( 不 動 堂 ; 3) with the main cult figure Fudō Myōō on the left . The King of Heaven is surrounded by his eight most important students, the "Eight Daidōji" ( 八大 童子 ). The whole group is registered as an Important Cultural Property of Japan and can be seen on the 28th of each month. On the right-hand side follows the three-story building, the "Amida Hall" ( 阿 弥陀 堂 -dō ; 4), which was brought here from the grounds of Nijō Castle (Kyōto). In this hall the Amida Buddha ( 阿 弥陀 如 来 Amida Nyorai ) and nine wooden figures from the 500 rakan , created in the Genroku period (1688–1704), are venerated. Next to the building is Saint Monjū ( 文殊 菩薩 -bosatsu ; 5), behind it the “three-needle pine” ( 三 鈷 の 松 Sanko-no-matsu ; marked in green on the plan). At the northeast corner, a staircase (D) with 108 steps - a sacred number in Buddhism - connects the temple with the outside world.

Opposite the Amida Hall, on the left, you can see a holy Kannon ( 観 音 菩薩 -bosatsu ; 6) standing in a small pond. The slender figure is an enlarged copy of the Yumechigai-Kannon ( 夢 違 観 音 ) from the old Hōryū-ji Temple in Nara Prefecture.As the name Yumechigai suggests, it is supposed to turn bad dreams into good ones . Next on the left is a small stone pagoda, which is dedicated to the temple founder, the Kaisan-tō ( 開山 塔 ; 7). Farther to the left on the edge of the temple area rises a low roof under which the temple bell ( 鐘楼堂 Shōrō -dō ; 8) is located. It was owned by the former Sekiyakushi temple ( 石 薬 師 寺 -ji ), which it had taken over from Gokuraku-ji ( 極 楽 寺 ) in Nara . It was cast in 1605, making it the oldest temple bell ( 梵 鐘 Bonshō ) in the Setagaya district .

A special feature of this temple is the area to the left of the main hall. There is the small "Tokkō Kannon Hall", which is set back a little to the rear ( 特 攻 観 音 堂 -dō ; 9). The hall is, as the addition Tokkō suggests, dedicated to the Kamikaze pilots of the Pacific War, the Tokubetsu Kōgekitai ( 特別 攻 撃 隊 ), the "special attack units ". In this hall two peace canons (平和 観 音, Heiwa-Kannon) are venerated for the 2,000 dead of the land forces and for the 2,615 of the navy. - The hall is surrounded by several memorial stones (gray in the plan). The stone on the left in front of the building bears the words “Sekai no Heiwa no Ishizue” ( 世界 の 平和 の, ) in the handwriting of the former Prime Minister Yoshida , meaning “Memorial stone for world peace”, dated October 1954. - The panel on the right explains the Tokubetsu Kōgekitai in Japanese and in English. - The stone further to the left has the long inscription "Shinshu Fumetsu Tokubetsu Kōgekitai" ( 神州 不滅 特別 攻 撃 隊 ), something like " Special Forces of the Immortal Fatherland". It is a group of 10 pilots who carried out a suicidal attack on Soviet troops in Manchuria on August 19, 1945 and died. - Another stone ensemble behind it, the only thing that was there from the beginning, is called “Tensan-tai” (天山 隊). Listed are three kamikaze units with a total of 27 pilots who carried out an attack on American warships on April 6, 1945. - Since the temple was founded, a memorial service has been held annually on September 23rd - together with a priest from the nearby Komatsunagi shrine ( 駒 繋 神社-jinja ) - in this temple area.

The temple is located on the premises of the Representation of Odawara- hans during the Edo period . The main building that has been preserved now serves as the abbey ( 世 田 谷 観 音 本 坊 Setagaya-Kannon Hombō ; A) of the temple. From there, a gate leads to the main entrance of the temple. Next to the gate (B) there is a small bronze figure in the shape of a kamikaze aviator next to the holy Jizō on a stone. In the temple office (C) you can get amulets and, if necessary, an entry in the pilgrimage book.

Remarks

  1. ↑ The building is also called Rokkaku-dō ( 六角 堂 ) because it is based on the Rokkaku-dō in Kyoto.
  2. ↑ This is about the liberation from inner unrest ( 煩 悩 滅除 Bonnō Metsujo ).
  3. ↑ The prototype, the Yumechigai-Kannonn in Nara, National Treasure , is 86.9 cm high.
  4. ↑ The board with the text praising the young pilots was only put up in 1985 and is supposed to counteract oblivion.
  5. ↑ The stone is dated May 1967: information about this attack, which was not a kamikaze attack in the strict sense, was only gathered in the 1960s. In addition, the book 妻 と 飛 ん だ 特 攻 兵 ８ ・ １９ 満 州 、 最後 の 攻 攻'The special mission pilot who flew with his wife - August 19, Manchuria, the last attack' was published by Kadokawa Verlag in 2015 .
  6. ↑ The designation Tensan-tai indicates a naval department that was equipped with the torpedo bomber "Tensan" ( Nakajima B6N ).

literature

  • Tokyo-to rekishi kyoiku kenkyukai (Ed.): Setagayasan Kannon-ji . In: Tokyo-to no rekishi sampo (chu). Yamakawa Shuppan, 2005. ISBN 978-4-634-24713-0 . Pp. 115, 116.

Web links

See also

  • Götz Wienold: Kannon Temple and Kannon Statues in Japan after the Pacific War: A Semiotic Analysis. In: KODIKAS / CODE Vol. 40

(2017) No. 3-4. Gunter Narr Verlag Tübingen. Pp. 381-397.

Coordinates: 35 ° 38 ′ 11.2 "  N , 139 ° 40 ′ 37.1"  E