"}" id="mwBg">
Seiken-ji (清見寺), is a Buddhist temple belonging to the Myōshin-ji branch of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen, located in the Okitsu neighborhood of Shimizu-ku ward of the city of Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan. Its main image is a statue of Shaka Nyōrai. It is also called Kiyomi-dera.
The temple claims to have been founded in the Hakuchi era of the Nara period as a Tendai sect temple to protect the Kiyomi-seki (清見関), a natural barrier on the ancient Tōkaidō highway connecting the capital with eastern Japan, where the path of the road was a narrow ledge between cliffs and the Pacific Ocean. The temple subsequently fell into disrepair and was revived and converted to the Rinzai school by the monk Enni in 1262 AD. The temple flourished during the Muromachi period and was named one of the Jissetsu temples in 1343. It is where Ashikaga Takauji and Imagawa Yoshimoto took the tonsure. In the Sengoku period, when the young Tokugawa Ieyasu was held hostage in Sunpu by the Imagawa clan, he was sent to Seiken-ji to be tutored by the abbot Sessai Chōrō. During the invasion of Suruga Province by the Takeda clan, Imagawa Ujizane established his headquarters at this temple.
During the Edo period, the temple continued to flourish due to its connection with Tokugawa Ieyasu, and its location on the Tōkaidō highway linking Edo with Kyoto. It was selected by the Tokugawa shogunate as one of the lodging spots for the Joseon missions to Japan and the delegations from the Ryukyu Kingdom. Due to these connections it was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1994. [1] Surviving Edo period structures include the Sanmon (1651) and entrance to the Main Hall (1616). [2]
During the early Meiji period, the tracks of the Tōkaidō Main Line railway were laid across the front of the temple, which lost much of its properties. However, due to its scenic location overlooking Suruga Bay, the temple drew the attention of poets and writers, including Shimazaki Tōson, Takayama Chogyū and Natsume Sōseki. [2]
The temple was also the location of an important conference held by the leadership of the fledgling Imperial Japanese Navy in June 1887, with the participants discussing various tactics and fleet maneuvers, which would then be tested in practice by the fleet in nearby Shimizu harbor. [3]
Diary of Ye Mengde (Chinese :葉夢得; Wade–Giles :Yeh Meng-te; 1077–1148), a Song dynasty Chinese scholar, poet, and government minister, dated summer of 1149 AD [4]
The Japanese garden at Seiken-ji dates from the early Edo period and contains ponds and tree arrangements. It became a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty in 1936. [5]
Tōtōmi Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture. Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa, Suruga and Shinano Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was Enshū (遠州). The origin of its name is the old name of Lake Hamana.
Izu Province was a province of Japan in the area now part of Shizuoka Prefecture and Tokyo. Izu bordered on Sagami and Suruga Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was Zushū (豆州).
Suruga Province was an old province in the area that is today the central part of Shizuoka Prefecture. Suruga bordered on Izu, Kai, Sagami, Shinano, and Tōtōmi provinces; and was bordered by the Pacific Ocean through Suruga Bay to the south. Its abbreviated form name was Sunshū (駿州).
Imagawa Ujizane was a Japanese daimyō who lived in the Sengoku period through the early Edo period. He was the tenth head of the Imagawa clan and was a son of Imagawa Yoshimoto and the father of Imagawa Norimochi and Shinagawa Takahisa.
Shizuoka Sengen Jinja (静岡浅間神社) is the name for a collective group of three Shinto shrines now forming a single religious corporation, located at Mount Shizuhata in Aoi-ku, Shizuoka, in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. These shrines are the Kanbe Jinja (神部神社), Sengen Jinja (浅間神社), and Ōtoshimioya Jinja (大歳御祖神社). The main festival of the shrine is held annually on April 5.
Shizuoka is the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, and the prefecture's second-largest city in both population and area. It has been populated since prehistoric times. As of 1 September 2023, the city had an estimated population of 677,867 in 106,087 households, and a population density of 480 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,200/sq mi).
Sunpu Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. The domain centered at Sunpu Castle is what is now the Aoi-ku, Shizuoka. From 1869 it was briefly called Shizuoka Domain (静岡藩).
Tanaka Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Suruga Province in what is now modern-day Fujieda, Shizuoka. It was centered around Tanaka Castle. Tanaka Domain was controlled by a large number of fudai daimyō clans in the course of its history, seldom for more than one generation.
Hamamatsu Castle is a replica hirayama-style Japanese castle. It was the seat of various fudai daimyō who ruled over Hamamatsu Domain, Tōtōmi Province, in what is now central Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. It is also called Shusse Castle.
Kakegawa Castle is a hirayama-style Japanese castle. It was the seat of various fudai daimyō clans who ruled over Kakegawa Domain, Tōtōmi Province, in what is now central Kakegawa, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
The Kunōzan Tōshō-gū (久能山東照宮) is a Shintō shrine in Suruga-ku in the city of Shizuoka in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is the original burial place of the first shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and is thus the oldest of the Tōshō-gū shrines in the country. The main festival of the shrine is held annually on April 17, although its spring festival on February 17–18 is a larger event.
Yokosuka Castle is a Japanese castle located in Ōsuka in the southern part of what is now the city of Kakegawa, Shizuoka, Japan. It was built in the Sengoku period and was the capital of Yokosuka Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. In 1981, the castle ruins were designated as a National Historic Site.
Tanaka Castle is a Japanese castle located in Fujieda, central Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Tanaka Castle was home to a branch of the Honda clan, daimyō of Tanaka Domain.
Yamanaka Castle was a Sengoku period yamajiro-style Japanese castle, built by the Odawara Hōjō clan in Tagata District, Izu Province, in what is now eastern Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The ruins have been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site since 1988.
Saioku-ji (柴屋寺) is a Buddhist temple belonging to the Myōshin-ji branch of Rinzai school of Japanese Zen located in Mariko-juku, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, Japan. Its main image is a statue of Jūichimen Kannon. The Japanese garden at this temple was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1936 and National Place of Scenic Beauty, with the borders of the historical site expanded in 1970.
Kōkukuji Castle was a Sengoku period yamashiro-style Japanese castle located in the Negoya neighborhood of the city of Numazu, Shizuoka prefecture. The ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1975.
Ryōtan-ji (龍潭寺) is a Buddhist temple belonging to the Myōshin-ji branch of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen. located in Hamana-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is the head temple of one of fourteen autonomous branches of the Rinzai school. Its main image is a hibutsu statue of Kokūzō Bosatsu. The temple, including its famed Japanese garden is not open to the general public.
Rinzai-ji, is a Buddhist temple belonging to the Myōshin-ji branch of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen, Buddhism located in the Aoi ward of the city of Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Its main image is a statue of Amida Nyōrai. It was the bodaiji of the Imagawa clan, a powerful Sengoku period daimyō clan. The temple is noted for its Japanese garden, which is a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty; however, the temple is only open to the public for two days each autumn, and it is not possible to view this garden other than during that period.
Reigan-ji (霊巌寺), is a Buddhist temple located in Kōtō-ku, Tokyo, Japan. The temple belongs to the Jōdo-shū sect of Japanese Buddhism and its honzon is a statue of Amida Nyōrai
Ashiura Kannon-ji (芦浦観音寺) is a Buddhist temple of the Tendai sect located in the city of Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. The temple was founded in the Hakuho period and its grounds were designated a National Historic Site in 2004. The complex includes several Muromachi or Edo Period buildings, two of which are designated as Important Cultural Properties.
Media related to Seikenji (Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka) at Wikimedia Commons