Joruri-ji Temple

To the west of a pond stands a hall enshrining Amida Buddha, and to the east a pagoda enshrining Yakushi Buddha. West stands for the Other Shore and east for this world, and the way the two face each other turns Heian-period Pure Land belief into a landscape. Joruri-ji in Kamo, Kizugawa, is an old temple whose Pure Land garden is a Special Place of Scenic Beauty and a Historic Site, and whose main hall and three-story pagoda are both National Treasures. Its name comes from Yakushi's Eastern Pure Land of Lapis Lazuli, and because nine Amida Buddhas sit in the main hall it is also called the Temple of Nine Buddhas.

The temple is said to have been founded in 1047, when the priest Gimyo built its main hall. A new main hall was built in 1107 and moved to the west bank of the pond in 1157. The main hall that survives today, a National Treasure, is generally held to be the 1107 building. The pond is said to have been dug in 1150 and the pagoda moved here in 1178. From the Middle Ages through the Edo period the temple was a branch of Ichijo-in at Kofuku-ji, and in the early Meiji era it joined the Shingon Risshu school as a branch of Saidai-ji.

The nine seated Amida Nyorai in the main hall (National Treasure) are made of cypress by the joined-wood method and finished in gold leaf over lacquer. The central image is about 224 cm tall, and the eight beside it are 139 to 145 cm. The central Buddha makes the welcoming-descent gesture, and the others make the meditation gesture. Many nine-Amida halls were built, beginning with Fujiwara no Michinaga's Hojo-ji, but this is the only one that remains. Inside the hall, nine golden Buddhas stand in a single row. The temple also holds statues of the Four Heavenly Kings (National Treasure) and a Kamakura-period statue of Kichijoten in a shrine (Important Cultural Property). Kichijoten is shown from January 1 to 15, March 21 to May 20, and October 1 to November 30.

The three-story pagoda is in the Japanese style. On its first floor are a hidden seated Yakushi Nyorai (Important Cultural Property) and wall paintings of the Sixteen Arhats (Important Cultural Property). Yakushi is shown on the 8th of each month, on the middle day of the equinox weeks, and during the first three days of the New Year.

The Okunoin, about a 15-minute walk from the temple gate, has the Ruri Fudo cliff carving, inscribed with the year 1296. A path from Joruri-ji to Gansen-ji is dotted with stone Buddhas and can be walked as a tour of the Tono stone Buddhas. The grounds and garden are free, and entry to the inside of the main hall is paid. There is no temple parking lot, so use a private one. From JR Kamo Station, a Kizugawa community bus (Tono line) takes about 20 minutes and stops right at Joruriji. If you plan to walk to the Okunoin, allow time for the mountain path there and back.