Honkoji Temple (Okazaki)

Honkoji Temple at a Glance

Honkoji Temple (本光寺) in Kamiaono-cho, Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture, is a temple of the Otani branch of Shin Buddhism; its gate, rebuilt in 1827, and its main hall, rebuilt in 1913, were each registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on October 2, 2007. Its principal image is Amida Nyorai.

According to the temple, it was founded in 980 as a Tendai temple in front of the main gate of Okazaki Castle and converted to Shin Buddhism in 1468 under the guidance of Rennyo. With the expansion of Okazaki Castle that began in 1590, it moved to its present site at Kamiaono in 1601.

The Gate and Main Hall

The temple explains that the gate was first built in the Genroku era as a two-storey tower gate donated by Mizuno Izumi-no-kami, lord of Okazaki, at a time when ordinary Shin temples were not permitted such gates. It was rebuilt in 1827 by Honda Tadataka, lord of Okazaki, and the upper storey still houses the Shaka triad that Mizuno donated.

The main hall was rebuilt in 1913 after the main hall and kitchen burned down in 1894. The temple presents it as a representative modern Shin temple building strongly influenced by Higashi Honganji. Both buildings were extensively restored between 2019 and 2020 and are also designated Important Landscape Buildings by Okazaki City (Honkoji).

Visiting and Getting There

According to Okazaki City, the exteriors of the main hall and gate can be viewed. The temple is at 1 Arai, Kamiaono-cho, Okazaki City (0564-43-2216). Enquiries about the cultural properties go to the cultural properties section of the Okazaki City Board of Education (0564-23-6177).