Enshoji Temple

A Memorial Temple for a Warlord's Father

Enshoji Temple (圓證寺, also written 円証寺 and Enshō-ji) is a temple of the Shingon Risshu school in Kamimachi, Ikoma City, Nara Prefecture, known as the family temple of Tsutsui Junshō, a warlord of Yamato Province who died in 1550. Junshō was the father of Tsutsui Junkei, the best-known of the Tsutsui lords. The principal image, a Kamakura-period seated Shaka Buddha, is designated by Nara Prefecture.

Two structures here are designated by the national government, and each is an Important Cultural Property: the main hall, built in 1552, and a stone five-ring pagoda inscribed in 1550 as a memorial to Junshō.

From the Heart of Nara to Ikoma

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Enshoji Temple was established in Nara in 1550 as Junshō's memorial temple. The Tsutsui family kept a residence at Hayashikoji in the city (today Hayashikoji-cho, Nara City), and after Junshō's death the site is said to have been converted into a temple. The temple's own tradition goes further back, to the Kanpyō era (889 to 897), and places its origins at Tsutsui, the family's home estate.

When the main hall was designated in 1971, the Agency described it as a medieval Buddhist hall surviving in the city of Nara. The temple later left its downtown site near Kintetsu Nara Station for the residential hills of Kamimachi in Ikoma. The move is generally dated to 1985, and the main hall and the pagoda were relocated to the new grounds with it.

Inside the Gate

The main hall faces you as you enter. The five-ring pagoda stands close beside it, so you can see it straight after the hall. Opposite the main hall is a study hall with a dry garden, the Sessen no Niwa, whose rocks represent the peaks of the Himalayas.

Visiting

Visits to Enshoji Temple require a telephone reservation in advance. According to the Yamato Hokubu 88 Temples pilgrimage association, admission is 400 yen for adults and parking is free. Turning up unannounced may mean you cannot get in, so fix a date and contact the temple first.

By public transport, take a Nara Kotsu bus from the north exit of Gakuen-mae Station on the Kintetsu Nara Line and get off at Mayumi 4-chome. The walk from the stop takes 7 to 10 minutes.

Viewing conditions for each structure are given on its own page.