Nanzenji

Located on the slopes of Higashiyama in Kyoto, Nanzenji is one of the most prominant Rinzai Zen temples in Kyoto. Unfortunately, due to the various raids and civil wars that took place in Kyoto during the Muromachi Period (1333-1573 C.E.) the temple was burned down multiple times. The oldest building standing dates back to the Sengoku Period following the Muromachi Period.

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

I would describe this as one of the more diffucult temples to evaluate in the Kyoto area because of it being in Kyoto. The buildings and temple grounds are beautiful, and of course I’ll go into more detail with that, but because it’s in Kyoto, I wouldn’t recommend this temple as a must see. If anything, I would agrue that it’s a great temple to go to when you’ve come to visit a second or third time and you’ve already done the major locations in the city. Essentially, I believe that this temple is most beautiful when visitors have time to really soak it in, not when they are pressed for time. Because of that, I think I graded it a little on the lower side of things.

I also wish to note, that I believe that visiting Nanzenji is the perfect ending to following the Philosopher’s Path. If you are unfamiliar with this path, it’s a street/trail that follows a stream of spring water from the mountains into central Kyoto while being lined the whole way with cherry trees. Typically I enjoy starting the walk after a quick visit to Ginkakuji, then I follow it down to Nanzenji for a short rest under the cool trees.

Nanzenji is a temple of natural beauty mixed with waves of new architecture. Tall gates copy the grandeur of the pine trees, cherry and maple trees decorate the stone paths, and lush moss clings to the red brick of the aquaduct running through. The exterior beauty of the temple is free to access and very fun to walk around. Typically there are people lounging by the aquaduct on short benches while kids go fishing for crawdads in the cold spring waters. In spring a dance of cherry blossoms flutter through the air, sometimes traveling a great distance from their home trees. In autumn, maple leaves add sharp dashes of color to the otherwise very dimure temple grounds.

The really important visuals to see require a ticket which I believe is around 800 yen. With this ticket, visitors will gain access to the quarters of the head priest which are surrounded by some of the most famous rock gardens and screen paintings in Japan. For this reason I think anyone with a background in Japanese art history will appreciate this temple more. The paintings are done by the Kano school and it’s easy to see the connection that Kano developed with the Rinpa school of art. Some screens follow the traditional Kano school style of white screens black ink, while the majority of screens mirror the samurai influence and extravagant style of bright colors and swaths of gold. Seasonal screens depict birds, snow, flowers, and a variety of scenes that inspire a sense of wonder and serenity.

 

Ôsu Kannon

Though this temple is not the original structure, nor is this the original location of the temple, it is one of the more important temples in the history of Japan. The current buildings are 20th century reconstructions of the original buildings established just prior to the Edo Period at the end of the Sengoku War Period by Tokugawa Ieyasu. The temple was moved after the original structures suffered repeated damage from flooding at its original location in Gifu Prefecture. Just looking at the buildings, it’s hard to understand why anyone would think this temple as a key institution in Japan’s history, but that’s because its true worth is not the building or the statues, it’s the documents it holds. In particular, Osu Kannon holds in its archives the oldest copy of the Kojiki, one of two official documents detailing the Imperial Family and its lineage from divinity as well as the mythology that surrounds it.

For the casual: 2. For the educated: 9.

So let me address our casual readers first before I geek out a little. For you, I don’t particularly recommend this temple as a place that you need to go to. However, surrounding the temple is a wonderful strip mall with fun stores and lovely cafes. So should you find yourself with someone who has more of an interest in the details of Japanese history and mythological origin, then feel free to leave them be and enjoy yourself. At the same time, the temple is small so if you wouldn’t mind taking 5 minutes or so to look around, I still think the temple is a very beautiful place to visit, I just don’t think it will have any sort of pull for casual visitors.

Fellow nerds! What I said before is certainly true: the temple is small and really only takes about 5 minutes to enjoy, so please be considerate of your friends! Also, before you ask, no, you cannot see the Kojiki. Why? Becase it’s very old and very fragile so it’s kept locked away except on the rare occasions it’s brought out for academic study or for museums.

 

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.