Ryukoji Temple

Ryukoji Temple: Where Nichiren Faced Execution

Ryukoji Temple (龍口寺, Ryūkō-ji) is a Nichiren Buddhist temple in Katase, Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture, founded in 1337 when Nichiren's disciple Nippō built a hall on the site, and four of its buildings became Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 2021. Its mountain name is Jakkōzan, and the temple describes itself as the head temple of the sacred site of the Tatsunokuchi Persecution.

The grounds sit about three minutes on foot from Enoshima Station on the Enoden line. Visitors enter through the Niōmon gate, pass the older Sanmon gate, and walk up the approach to the Great Main Hall. The four registered structures are spread around this route. What makes Ryukoji unusual is how far apart in age they are: the Myoken Hall dates from the middle of the Edo period, the Chozusha from the last years of the shogunate, the Bell Tower from the Meiji era, and the Great Shoin from the early Showa years.

From Execution Ground to Pilgrimage Site

The land Ryukoji occupies was an execution ground under the Kamakura shogunate. The temple points out that the shogunate's own chronicle, the Azuma Kagami, repeatedly records beheadings at Koshigoe and Tatsunokuchi.

On the night of the twelfth day of the ninth month of 1271, the monk Nichiren was arrested at Matsubagayatsu in Kamakura and brought here. He had angered the shogunate with his treatise Risshō Ankoku Ron, which blamed the country's disasters on its rulers' neglect of the Lotus Sutra. In a letter he wrote afterwards, Nichiren described a bright object like a full moon flying in from the direction of Enoshima just as the sword was about to fall, so that the officials fell to the ground in fear. The execution was called off and he was exiled to Sado instead. The episode is known as the Tatsunokuchi Persecution, one of the four great persecutions of Nichiren's life.

Sixty-six years later, in 1337, Nippō raised a hall here and enshrined an image of Nichiren together with the Shikigawa-ishi, the stone said to have been the seat of execution. Ryukoji traces its founding to that hall. For a long time it had no resident head priest; eight nearby temples took turns looking after it. Today the temple is run under its own chief abbot.

Walking the Grounds of Ryukoji Temple

The entrance to Ryukoji Temple is the Niōmon, a reinforced-concrete gate completed in 1973. The site of the Tatsunokuchi execution ground is also marked within the precinct. Beyond the Niōmon stands the Sanmon of 1864, decorated with eight carved panels showing scenes from Chinese legend.

On the approach to the Great Main Hall, the Myoken Hall stands on the west side facing east, and the Chozusha stands directly opposite on the east side, its ridge running north to south. Two of the registered buildings therefore face each other across the path.

At the head of the approach is the Great Main Hall, completed in 1832 and measuring about 21 meters across and about 27 meters deep. The Bell Tower stands on a raised platform to the southeast of the main hall, with a statue of Nichiren between the two. The Great Shoin occupies the southeastern part of the grounds, and according to the temple the restrooms are located between the Great Shoin and the Bell Tower.

Ryukoji also has a five-storied pagoda built in 1910 and a Buddhist stupa completed in 1970. The stupa stands near the top of the Katase hill, with a view over the Shonan area and Sagami Bay.

Four Ryukoji Buildings Registered Together

The Myoken Hall, Great Shoin, Bell Tower and Chozusha were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on February 26, 2021. They carry the consecutive registration numbers 14-293 through 14-296, and all four were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape of the country.

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Myoken Hall was built in 1720, the Chozusha in 1867, the Bell Tower in 1881 and the Great Shoin in 1932, so the set spans more than two centuries. The Bell Tower was moved to Ryukoji in 1969, and the temple says the Great Shoin was brought from Matsushiro in Nagano Prefecture in 1935. The appearance of the Ryukoji grounds kept changing well into the Showa era.

On October 1 of the same year, Fujisawa City designated the Great Main Hall, the Sanmon and the pagoda as municipal cultural properties. Within the single year of 2021, the main buildings of Ryukoji came under protection from both the national government and the city.

Getting to Ryukoji Temple

Ryukoji Temple is easy to reach by rail. Enoshima Station on the Enoshima Electric Railway (Enoden) and Shonan-Enoshima Station on the Shonan Monorail are each about 3 minutes away on foot. From Katase-Enoshima Station on the Odakyu Enoshima Line, allow about 15 minutes. Enoden Bus and Keikyu Bus both stop at the Ryukoji bus stop, right by the entrance.

The temple has only 10 parking spaces, reserved for worshippers and parishioners. It asks sightseers who come by car to use the paid parking lots nearby. On festival days the surrounding streets are congested, and the train or bus is the better choice.

Visiting Hours, Admission and Photography at Ryukoji

There is no admission fee at Ryukoji Temple, and visitors may walk freely around the grounds. The temple also says anyone may enter the Great Main Hall. Its access page gives regular visiting hours as 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., but the FAQ page on the same site states that visiting hours run until 4:30 p.m. Plan to arrive before 4:00 p.m. to be safe.

The temple office can be reached at 0466-25-7357 and answers calls between 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

Visitors are asked, as a rule, not to take photographs during memorial services and ceremonies. Drones are generally prohibited on the grounds, and anyone who intends to use footage or photos commercially must apply to the temple for permission.

The Tatsunokuchi Hōnan-e at Ryukoji

The largest event of the year at Ryukoji Temple is the Tatsunokuchi Hōnan-e, held each year on September 11, 12 and 13. On the evening of the 12th, local lay associations bring decorated lantern towers called mandō into the grounds, and food stalls line the street outside the gate. Because Nichiren is said to have received an offering of botamochi rice cakes on the night of his ordeal, the temple hands out homemade "misfortune-warding botamochi" to visitors.

The grounds and nearby streets are packed during these days. If you want to look at the registered buildings in peace, choose a day without events.