Saimyo-ji Temple

Saimyo-ji is a Tendai temple in the hills of Koura Town, Inukami District, Shiga Prefecture, with the mountain name Ryuo-zan. Together with Kongorin-ji and Hyakusai-ji it is counted among the "Koto Sanzan" (Three Temples of the Eastern Lake Shore), and it is Temple No. 32 on the Saikoku Yakushi 49 pilgrimage. Because of the pond associated with its founding, it has also been called "Ike-dera" (Pond Temple).

A visit begins at the main gate, rebuilt in 2015. The grounds are split in two by the Meishin Expressway.

The main hall is a Wayo-style building from the early Kamakura period and was designated a National Treasure in the very first batch of designations. The three-story pagoda is dated by its style to the late Kamakura period, and the paintings on the pillars and walls inside its first floor (4 pillars, 8 panels) are separately designated Important Cultural Properties. The Nitenmon bears an ink inscription dated 1407 (Oei 14) and is thought to have been built that year; it too is an Important Cultural Property. The principal image, a standing wooden Yakushi Nyorai, is a hidden Buddha and an Important Cultural Property. The temple also holds other Important Cultural Properties, including standing wooden statues of the two heavenly kings, a standing wooden Shaka Nyorai, a wooden Fudo Myoo with two attendants, the Twelve Devas painted on silk, and the stone pagoda dedicated to Sanshu.

According to temple tradition, the monk Sanshu, guided by a purple light rising from a pond in 834 (Jowa 1), carved a statue of Yakushi Nyorai and others and enshrined them, which is how the temple began. The purple light reportedly shone to the west, giving the temple its name, "Saimyo" (West Light). In Nobunaga's attack of 1571, the monks are said to have burned the lodgings near the temple gate to make it look as if the whole mountain had been destroyed, so the main hall and pagoda survived. In 1648 (Keian 1), in the Edo period, Tokugawa Iemitsu recognized a 30-koku shuin-chi land grant for the temple. An infrared survey in 2020 revealed a pillar painting of a standing bodhisattva from the Asuka period on a pillar of the main hall, and it has been suggested that the temple may be older than tradition holds.

The abbot's garden, Horai-tei, was laid out by Mochizuki Yukan in 1673 (Enpo 1) and is a Place of Scenic Beauty designated by the nation. About 1,000 maple trees grow in the precincts, usually at their best from mid to late November, and the temple is known as a place for autumn leaves. The Fudan-zakura cherry begins to bloom in early September and is in full bloom in November, so you can enjoy flowers at the same time as the foliage. Plum, rhododendron and hydrangea bloom from spring into early summer, and camellias in winter.

By car, the temple is about 3.3 km from the Koto Sanzan Smart IC on the Meishin Expressway. By train, take a taxi from JR Kawase Station, which takes about 20 minutes. Combined with nearby Taga Taisha Shrine and Hikone Castle, it fits well into a trip through the temples, shrines and castle town of the eastern Lake Biwa area.