Jizōin Temple　地蔵院

ページ番号280182

2021年3月19日

Jizōin Temple

Jizōin Temple was constructed in 1367 by Hosokawa Yoriyuki (1329–1392), an eminent member of the powerful Hosokawa family, who held several prominent positions in the Ashikaga shogunate. Following the dying wish of the second shogun, Yoshiakira, in 1367 Yoriyuki assumed the role of deputy shogun (kanrei) and advisor to the third shogun, who was then just 10 years old.

Yoriyuki built Jizōin Temple, which enshrines an image of the bodhisattva Jizō. Jizō is said to be a protector of children—such as the young shogun—and was also the tutelary deity of the Ashikaga family, who controlled the shogunate. Yoriyuki gave the position of temple founder to the Zen monk Hekitan Shūkō (1291–1374), of whom Yoriyuki was a close follower. It was Shūkō who added the Zen garden that would later become one of the temple’s most famous features.

With the support of Yoriyuki, and through his connections to the emperor’s court and to the Ashikaga shogunate, the temple grew to cover 170,000 square meters and include 26 branch temples. However, power struggles between local daimyo escalated into a widespread conflict known as the Ōnin War (1467–1477), during which forces opposed to the Hosokawa family burned the temple complex to the ground. Some artifacts were saved, including the head of the statue of Yoriyuki and the principal image of Jizō, which dates to the Heian period (794–1185). The Hosokawa family moved on to consolidate their power in the Kyushu region, leaving what remained of the temple to fall into disrepair. Many centuries later, in the early Edo period (1603–1867), the abbot’s quarters were rebuilt with the support of the Hosokawa family.

Jizōin Temple Grounds

The main entrance to Jizōin Temple is marked by a large gate, called the sōmon, which was built in the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568–1603). The path leading into the temple complex is flanked on either side by thickets of mōsōchiku bamboo, which can grow up to 25 meters tall. Although not present at the time of the temple’s construction, the thickets led to the temple’s popular nickname, “Temple of Bamboo” (Takenotera). To the left of the main hall is the 600-year-old gravesite of the temple’s founders, while to the right a path leads to the abbot’s quarters and attached Zen garden. Reconstructed in 1686 with the assistance of the Hosokawa family, the residence is divided into four rooms in which the monks of the temple lived, studied, and practiced. The residence opens onto a Zen garden called the Garden of the Sixteen Arhats. Several stones stand upright in the garden, and those that represent the arhats are said to be turned slightly to the left, as if they are looking out toward Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine.

One of the most famous residents of Jizōin Temple was the monk Ikkyū (1394–1481). Widely believed to be the unrecognized son of Emperor Gokomatsu (1377–1433), he spent the first six years of his life at Jizōin Temple with his mother. It is said that he never spoke of his royal lineage and treated aristocrats and commoners the same.