Tourists are flocking again to Japan and they’re more and more prepared to stray from the “golden route” of Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka to search out different treasures of Japan, a few of them hiding in plain sight.
Takaoka, a metropolis on Toyama Bay, simply subsequent door to the prefectural capital of Toyama Prefecture, incorporates just a few treasures and is definitely accessible, particularly for these touring by Shinkansen between Tokyo and Kanazawa.
Among Takaoka’s well-known websites are Zuiryuji, a seventeenth century Zen temple; the atmospheric Kanayamachi District, with its previous picket homes and the Takaoka Casting Museum the place guests can study how Takaoka gained fame for casting temple bells; and an early twentieth century bronze Great Buddha, stated to be the third largest in Japan. (There are a number of statues throughout the nation that make this declare, so a go to for your self to substantiate it couldn’t go astray.)
Takaoka’s Great Buddha is claimed to be the third largest in Japan. Photo: kazukiatuko/PIXTA
One of the town’s most intriguing “hidden” treasures is Shokoji, a fifteenth century Buddhist temple situated on a hilltop above Toyama Bay, a straightforward — albeit uphill — five-minute stroll from JR Fushiki Station. From the surface, the temple precincts give off the looks of a fortress of some sort, with excessive partitions, one thing resembling a nook watchtower and even a little bit of a moat.
Shokoji is affiliated with Nishi Honganji in Kyoto, head temple of the Jodo Shinshu or True Pure Land sect of Buddhism. Because of its Japan Sea-side location and Takaoka’s political function as capital of then Etchu Province, Shokoji grew to become a preferred Edo Period (1603-1868) vacation spot for pilgrims from the northern a part of Honshu, for whom a visit to Kyoto was infeasible. This function seemingly contributed to the temple’s fortress-like exterior.
A moat and watchtower give Shokoji the looks of a fortress. Photo: Vicki L Beyer
Perhaps due to the celebrity Shokoji loved amongst pilgrims, when Buddhism fell out of favor on the finish of the nineteenth century as Japan was industrializing and imperial energy was restored, Shokoji was permitted to stay operational as a temple, though it hosted fewer and fewer pilgrims and fell into a tragic state of disrepair.
Today, nonetheless, the three hectare complicated is a superb instance of Edo Period temple structure, with its twelve buildings all having fun with “Important Cultural Property” designation. The exceptional situation of the complicated is because of a 23-year restoration mission utilizing conventional development strategies. The mission was accomplished simply a few years in the past.
During my current go to, various the carpenters who had participated within the restoration mission had been readily available to display the strategies they’d employed, together with painstaking planing of boards, numerous sorts of nail-less joinery, and using picket “nails” to put in cedar shingle roofing.
Carpenters educated in conventional strategies display the nail-less joinery utilized in restoring Shokoji. Photo: Vicki L Beyer
The important worship corridor, inbuilt 1795 and modeled on the Amida Hall of Kyoto’s Nishi Honganji, is very large and so opulently appointed that even probably the most informal customer feels impressed to take a seat quietly for a bit to soak up the ambiance. But don’t linger too lengthy. There is a lot extra to discover.
Next door to the principle worship corridor and linked to it by a coated catwalk are a sequence of buildings used for numerous functions by the temple’s resident monks, pilgrims and different guests to the temple.
The cavernous kitchen, with its personal indoor water supply, would have produced day by day meals for dozens of pilgrims at a time throughout their stays. Imagine the hustle and bustle that may have taken place at mealtime two or three centuries in the past
The temple’s massive kitchen as soon as produced meals for monks and pilgrims alike. Photo: Vicki L Beyer
Among the temple’s inventive treasures are two massive byobu folding screens, every with six panels. The screens are coated in gold leaf and depictions of historical Kyoto. One may spend a lifetime finding out the intricate element.
There are various massive, unadorned rooms which might be believed to have been assembly rooms and even lodging for pilgrims. Many of those are flanked by lengthy hallways that open onto nice inside gardens, many that includes Zen rock formations.
But there are additionally massive, well-appointed rooms with carved picket transoms, colourful fusuma sliding panels and hanging scrolls. These had been to be used by visiting dignitaries of assorted stripe. One such room even incorporates a screened, raised space the place the native Maeda lord might need sat in relative privateness whereas listening to petitions by pilgrims and even the monks serving the temple.
Well-appointed room the place the native lord, seated behind the blind on the left, might need acquired petitions. Photo: Vicki L Beyer
Although I had time throughout my go to to search out solely three, the temple complicated is claimed to include seven “mysteries”. Hunting them down may make for a enjoyable little scavenger hunt. They are: a fruitless gingko tree, a stone that fell from the sky, a pond that by no means dries, a monkey that holds up the roof, a pillar that wards off evil spirits, a flying dragon inkstone, and a three-needle pine.
The stone that fell from the sky is among the seven mysteries of Shokoji. Perhaps the large ginkgo tree within the background of the picture is the fruitless gingko tree? Photo: Vicki L Beyer
Tourists focused on Japanese conventional structure or wanting an in depth up have a look at a conventional Buddhist temple with out being overwhelmed (isn’t the technical time period “templed out”?) or simply searching for a web site off the crushed monitor the place few different international guests have been will notably take pleasure in a bit of stopover in Takaoka to see its sights, particularly Shokoji.
Vicki L Beyer, an everyday Japan Today contributor, is a contract journey author who additionally blogs about experiencing Japan. Follow her weblog at jigsaw-japan.com
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