Isshinji

Located in Osaka just down the road from Shitennôji, Isshinji, meaning One Heart Temple, is widely considered to be the more important of the two temples. But how could this be with a temple like Shitennôji being supported by the government and all the higher members of society for over a thousand years? Well, read that last sentence again and you’ll find your answer. Shitennôji is a temple by the nobles for the nobles. Sure it helped establish Buddhism as a state religion giving spiritual access to all members of society, but it was largely for the purpose of rich people trying to buy off any negative karma they had. Isshinji is the temple for the people of Osaka.

Let me put it this way. There are essentially three types of temples, and most temples have aspects of each but largely fall into one of three categories. One, the temple is a monastery for people to renounce their worldly pocessions and find enlightenment. Two, the temple is dedicated to a specific family and is largely off limits to certain sections of society. Three, the temple is where average people go to bury their dead. Isshinji is the latter of the three types, but because Osaka is no small area, the temple has received massive patronage from the people of Osaka as the home for their collective ancestors.

For the casual: 8. For the educated: 6.

Ok, to understand why this temple is so cool let’s just remind ourselves of a few key things: the US bombed the hell out of Osaka in WWII. We all on the same page now? Good. Isshinji is just like any temple but is unlike any temple. Since the buildings were completely wiped out in the Pacific War, the temple needed to be rebuilt from the foundations up. At first, the buildings followed the typical styles of any temple, but a head monk who dabbled in architecture designed the structures that would largely make Isshinji stand out from any other temple in the area.

The main gate with Nio Guardians is constructed of steel beams following a triangular pattern so it looks more like modern art than a temple gate. The Nio Guardians that watch over the entrance are impressionistic-like modern bronze statues. Rather than taking a purely Japanese style approach to the architecture, the buildings have simple flairs of a classical throwback to the origins of Buddhism in India. Bronze reliefs of Indian women and Bodhisattva adorn the gate doors and even the tower finials resemble the ones atop stupas instead of pagodas.

Finally, a key feature of Isshinji are statues called Okutsu Butsu, or “Bone Buddha.” These statues are very literal in their meaning and origin because they are made of the cremated remains of temple patrons. Now before you go freaking out at how weird that is, let me give some context. If you’ve never been to Japan before, let me tell you that Japan has a space problem. Much of the archipelago is too mountainous to live on so any valley area is packed full of people. This problem gets a bit more intense when you have a large city like Osaka. You can’t just make the temple larger, you can’t outsouce a patrons remains to some other temple, and you certainly can’t toss them out, so you mix them with a resin and pour the mixture into a mold of a Buddha. In this way, you can consolidate remains, you make the remains into a venerated image which is worshipped and honored by thousands of people every day, and the temple gets to reopen family plots so it can continue to service the Osaka area. There are six to have been completed since WWII and each one requires the ashes of approximately 150,000 patrons to complete.

 

Shitennôji

As one of the oldest temples in Japan, and as the first temple to be built with the official support of the government, Shitennôji is one of the most significant temples in Japan. Built in Osaka in the 6th century C.E. under the oversight of famed Prince Shotoku, the temple garnered great respect and recognition by figures across Japan’s history. The temple was constructed during a time of war, and to bring the conflict to a swift and peaceful resolution, the temple was named Shitennôji, meaning the Temple of the Four Heavenly Kings. The Four Heavenly Kings are beings who guard the four cardinal directions of a temple from evil so that the Buddha inside may work without distraction. Like so many temples and shrines across Japan, Shitennôji has burned down and been rebuilt many times throughout its history, mostly due to lightning strikes. Each time however, the temple has been rebuilt to replicate the original 6th century architecture.

For the casual: 8. For the educated: 8.

Shitennôji is certainly a very entertaining temple to visit on the south side of Osaka. The streets leading up to the temple are lined with stores that sell a variety of temple accessories from private altars and effigies, to prayer beads and incense which wafts out into the streets. The surrounding neighborhood is simply a delight to wander through to catch the sights and sounds of the community.

The temple itself is a lovely complex with a large courtyard for markets and festivals. My only criticism of the temple is that the clean modern construction the grounds betrays the significance of the temple. The main buildings in the center of the complex house the main hall and the pagoda. Usually the pagodas at temples are inaccessable to enter so please take some time to climb up this one. The main hall houses a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha (the Historical Buddha), but in the image of Prince Shotoku. Prince Shotoku was known for being a major figure in early Japanese history, and one of his main contributions was establishing Buddhism as a recognized and supported belief system by the government.

One final note: the temple and the main road leading up to it align with the setting sun on the Spring and Autumnal Equinox. On these days, there is always a big festival at the temple with large crowds gathering to take photos of the sunset.

View of the temple grounds from inside the pagoda.

 

Nakayama-dera

Founded in the 12th century, Nakayama-dera is a temple dedicated to Kannon, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. If you have been reading my posts or have visited Japan yourself, you probably have noticed that Kannon has at least a hall in dedication to the deity in almost every temple complex, and it’s easy to see why. Compassion is a form of relief that we all strive to obtain no matter what the situation. As such, Kannon is one if not the most popular Bodhisattva in Japan if not all of Buddhism. But Nakayama is slightly different from other temples to Kannon because it focuses on a specific kind, or genre, of compassion; namely for and around child birth. Nakayama-dera is a temple solely dedicated to the well being of mothers and newborns. Even the goshuin from the temple are varied based on the condition of the mother. There are goshuin pre-conception, others for midterm, and others for newborns. Prayer services focus on the familiy and call upon Kannon to bless them with good fortune during a major transition in any family’s timeline.

For the casual: 5. For the educated: 5.

Even though I marked this location as only a 5 out of 10, I believe it has much more to offer than just that. For one, the location is a really great one. Up in the hills between Osaka and Kobe, it overlooks the greater Osaka area with very little resistance. Second, the community surrounding the temple is lovely. Nakayama-dera is nestled in a suburban community which means that there are cute little shops, stalls, and cafes all around, not to mention the lovely reprieve from the bustling noise of city life. Third, the temple is extremely considerate of the women in particular who are coming to the temple to pray. I mentioned earlier that the temple is on a hill and in Japan hills are not gentle; they rise and fall with very little hesitation. This means that there are multiple flights of stairs that are equally not as gentle as one would like especially when being weighed down by a human. So how does this compassionate temple respond? They install outdoor escalators for you to use if the stairs are simply too difficult to use.

Another reason I found this temple a great place to visit was because of the sights. The temple buildings are covered in vibrant colored paintings with beautiful and fantastical creatures on almost every wall. For those alone I would recommend the trip to anyone with a pension for art. The five-story pagoda is also slighty irregular but facinating with a blue-purple color painted atop the wood wich both complements the dark colors of the exposed wood and ceramic roof tiles, but also stands out without being loud.

If you’re looking for a place to enjoy the Kansai area with a kind of overlooking and quiet vibe, there are very few other places I would recommend apart from Nakayama-dera.