This
temple was founded by a Korean Buddhist priest, Eben, in
the 7th century, by the order of Prince Shotoku-Taishi. Eben
had been invited to come to Japan, but he had to escape from
the political battle in Nara to determine if the Buddhism
should be the national religion of Japan. He had settled
down in the Harima region, and had stopped his religious
practice by marrying a woman. But because of the strong request
of his enthusiastic supporter, Tatto Shiba, Eben had Tatto's
daughter enter the Buddhist priesthood. This daughter became
the first Japanese priest in history. The second priest of
this temple was Saint Tokudo. He was born in this region
and made an original plan of 33 pilgrimage sites in Western
Japan. This temple once declined in popularity, but it was
reestablished by Priest Gyoki in the 8th century. A statue
of Priest Gyoki is worshiped at the inner
sanctuary of the temple. There were 36 halls
in the temple ground in the Heian period, and this temple
has been supported by many royal family members, aristocrats
and samurais as one of six most important temples in the
Harima region.
This temple is said to have come back to the
present location through the support of Hideyoshi Toyotomi
in 1586, after his escape from a battle in the Warring period.
The Sakakibara family, lords of Himeji castle, contributed
to the restoration of the temple in the Edo Era. All existing
buildings were constructed in the mid-17th century and many
of them are Cultural Properties. A wooden statue of Yakushinyorai,
the main statue of the temple, is a Prefectural Cultural
Property and a wooden Bishamonten statue, a sub-main statue,
is appointed as the National Cultural Property. You may find
the drawings of heavenly maidens [ 1 ]
[ 2 ]
[ 3 ]
and dragons on the ceiling of the Main
Hall. The drawing maintain
the brightness of the original color and dragons observing
us can be seen from most places inside the Main Hall.
The
Sakakibara family was distinguished among the feudal lords
and was regarded as one of the four closest families to the
Tokugawa Shogun family. Tadatsugu Sakakibara (1605~1665)
was at once a good warrior and a good scholar, and a person
of character. During his 17 years as the Himeji
Castle lord, he did many important projects including
the reconstruction of Zuiganji Temple, and he was regarded
as an excellent leader.
This
grave was made in 1665 by his first son, Masafusa,
and shows the dignity appropriate to what he had done in
his life. The area is about 1100 square meter.
The inscription at
his grave composed by Shuho Hayashi, a Confucian scholar,
is lengthy and considered well-written. It's over 3000 kanji
characters long and describes the Sakakibara family genealogy
and Tadatsugus' personal history of his birth, his story
to become the 28th lord of the Himeji Castle in 1649 after
the experience of being the lord at Tatebayashi and Shirakawa
(Fukushima), and his great achievements during his life.
The turtle
under the inscription is said to move if you read all
kanji characters without any mistake.
Members
of the Sakakibara family became the Lord of Himeji Castle
twice, once in the early-Edo Era and again in the mid-Edo
Era. Masakuni Sakakibara, after being the Lord of Murakami
Castle in Niigata moved to Himeji in 1704, and became the
first Sakakibara Lord of Himeji in the second period. Three
other family members became the Lord of the Castle after
Masakuni. Masakuni was said to do a good administration,
especially to the local people, during his 22 years in Himeji
until he died in 1726 at the age of 56. His remains were entombed
here in Mt. Masui as requested in his will. His wife
was died in 1729 in Edo (Tokyo), but she was also
entombed next to her husband as requested in her will.
This is Himeji's only grave in which a castle lord and his
wife are entombed together.
Lady
Jissoin was a concubine of Masakuni Sakakibara, the 33rd
Himeji Castle Lord, and the mother of Masasuke Sakakibara,
the 34th Himeji Castle Lord. She suffered from a women disease
and died with her hope to save women from the same problem
in her afterlife. Therefore, many people visit here with
hopes that Lady Jissoin may help cure diseases of the lower
body. Local people call this grave the princess grave. A
ceremony to pray for Lady Jissoin is held on the 6th day
of the month.
Kaizando,
the central part of Okunoin, is a square hall with three
bays in the front and three bays at the side. The inscription
on two stone lanterns standing in front of the hall indicates
their placement around the year 1654, and so the hall is
assumed to have been constructed at the same time, making
it the oldest structure extant in the Zuiganji Temple complex.
A statue
of Priest Gyoki who reestablished this temple is worshiped inside
the hall.
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