Tendaiji Temple

Tendaiji Temple: a northern Kannon temple and its two Edo-period buildings

Tendaiji Temple (天台寺, also written Tendai-ji) is a Tendai temple in Oyama, Joboji-machi, Ninohe City, Iwate Prefecture, whose Main Hall of 1658 and Niomon Gate of 1657 were designated together as an Important Cultural Property in 1990.

The temple's mountain name is Hachiyōzan, "Mountain of Eight Petals." According to the temple's own account, the monk Gyōki came here in 728 on the order of Emperor Shōmu, named the mountain for its eight peaks and eight valleys, carved a Kannon from a katsura tree and hung a plaque reading "Tendaiji" written by the emperor himself. The temple is candid that the story cannot be proven. Judging from the age of its Buddhist statues, it says, Tendaiji Temple was founded no later than the 11th or 12th century.

Local people still call it Oyama no Kannon, the Kannon of the Mountain. Another old name, Keisen Kannon, comes from the spring that seeps from the roots of a great katsura tree at the foot of the approach.

In the Edo period the Nanbu family, lords of the Morioka domain, supported the temple, and the domain lord Nanbu Shigenao paid for the two buildings that stand today. After the Meiji era the temple lost its line of resident priests, and after the Second World War most of the century-old cedars on the mountain were cut down and sold. Local preservation work began in the early 1970s, and the novelist and nun Setouchi Jakuchō became chief priest of Tendaiji Temple in 1987, drawing visitors nationwide to her open-air sermons.

Why the Main Hall and Niomon Gate of Tendaiji Temple are an Important Cultural Property

The Agency for Cultural Affairs designated the two buildings of Tendaiji Temple as a single Important Cultural Property on 11 September 1990. Its commentary describes the temple as a leading Kannon pilgrimage site of the Tōhoku region and singles out the Main Hall as a five-bay hall with a large built-in Zushi and careful workmanship throughout. Because both buildings were raised by the Morioka domain in the same campaign, the agency treats them as a pair: together they are an important example in Iwate of full-scale temple building from the early Edo period. Eleven Munafuda ridge tags and one construction document are designated with them as appended items.

The dates are unusually well fixed. The Niomon Gate was finished first, in 1657 (Meireki 3). Temple records say the frame of the Main Hall was raised on the 24th day of the tenth lunar month of that year, which falls in mid-December by the modern calendar, just ahead of the deep snow. The hall was completed in 1658 (Manji 1).

The 2013 to 2020 repair added physical proof. On the underside of the Main Hall's threshold, a carpenter had written the date Meireki 4, the same year as Manji 1 before the era name changed. That threshold shows no sign of ever having been moved, so the inscription confirms the written record. Other inscriptions found during the work mark later repairs in 1690 and 1802, and the carpenters' picture marks (ebanzuke) used to match timbers were found on the members.

What to look for at Tendaiji Temple

The Main Hall

The Main Hall of Tendaiji Temple measures 5 bays by 5 bays under a single Irimoya-zukuri roof, with a one-bay Kōhai porch over the front steps. Inside, the plan follows the Esoteric Buddhist tradition: a Naijin for the Buddhas and priests at the back is clearly divided from a Gejin at the front where worshippers sit.

Against the rear wall of the naijin stands the large zushi named in the designation, finished in black lacquer, vermilion lacquer and gold paint. The temple's principal image, a standing Shō Kannon, was once kept hidden inside it. The original statue now sits in the temple's storehouse behind the Main Hall, and a replica takes its place in the hall.

Look up at the eaves. Carvings appear throughout the upper parts of the Main Hall. Above the front steps, the projecting zōbana, beam ends carved in the shape of an elephant's head, were stripped and repainted during the repair, and the Kaerumata and Kumimono bracket sets were recolored at the same time. On the side walls, look for the Taiheizuka, decorative struts shaped like a flared vase.

The Niomon Gate

The Niomon Gate of Tendaiji Temple is a Hakkyakumon, a gate whose four main pillars are braced by eight auxiliary posts, under a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof. It stands on the approach below the Main Hall. The Niō guardian statues inside are attributed by temple tradition to the Kamakura-period sculptor Unkei, an attribution the temple presents as legend. Visitors with an ailment attach a paper charm to the panel at the matching part of the body; the temple asks men to pray to the open-mouthed figure on the right as you face the gate, and women to the closed-mouthed one on the left.

The cedar roofs

The biggest change visitors will notice at Tendaiji Temple is on the roofs. Before 2013 the Main Hall was covered in copper sheet and the Niomon Gate in iron sheet, both postwar replacements. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database still describes those metal roofs. During the repair, pieces of the old roofing came to light and, read against the written records, showed that both buildings had first been roofed with Japanese cedar boards. On the agency's advice the temple restored them.

The Main Hall now carries tochibuki, boards about 1 centimeter thick laid in overlapping courses and fixed with bamboo nails, while the Niomon Gate has thinner Kokerabuki shingles about 3 millimeters thick. The boards were split by hand from cedar logs rather than sawn, which leaves a slightly rippled surface; each board was also shaved to taper in thickness, so that neighboring boards never sit perfectly flush and the small gaps help the roof dry after rain. The ridge boxes on top are sheathed in copper.

Visiting Tendaiji Temple

Tendaiji Temple is open daily. Between April and October the grounds open at 8:30 a.m. and close at 5:00 p.m.; between November and March they close an hour earlier, at 4:00 p.m. Admission is 500 yen, paid at the temple office (osatsusho), and children of junior high school age and younger enter free. The fee was raised on 1 April 2024 to cover conservation and fire-protection costs.

Both buildings can be viewed from outside at any time during opening hours. The temple's website gives no rule on how far visitors may enter the Main Hall or on photography inside, so ask at the temple office before taking pictures of the interior.

By public transport, take the JR Bus Tohoku Ninohe to Jōbōji line from Ninohe Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen. The ride to the Tendaiji stop takes about 23 minutes and costs 730 yen, and the JR East Pass and Japan Rail Pass are valid on this local bus. The weekday timetable shows 7 departures from Ninohe Station, so check return times before setting out. From the stop it is about a 25-minute walk to Tendaiji Temple, ending with a climb up the stone-stepped approach through the Niomon Gate to the Main Hall.

By car, Tendaiji Temple is about 5 minutes from Jōbōji Interchange on the Hachinohe Expressway. The temple's older website directs drivers to a lot just past the Jōbōji History and Folklore Museum, which cannot take large vehicles and is closed from December to March. Free guided walks by volunteer guides can be booked at least 7 days ahead through the Ninohe tourism association listed on the temple's website.