Rengebuji Temple

Rengebuji Temple

Rengebuji Temple (蓮華峰寺) is a temple of the Chizan branch of Shingon Buddhism in Kobie, Sado City, Niigata Prefecture, said to have been founded by Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi) around 806; three of its buildings, the Kondo, the Kobodo and the Kotsudo, are designated Important Cultural Properties, and sixteen more structures were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 2002 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Its mountain name is Kobiesan, and its hydrangeas have earned it the nickname "hydrangea temple" (Sado Sightseeing Navi).

Origins

According to Sado Sightseeing Navi, Kūkai is said to have opened Rengebuji in the Daido era because Sado lay in the unlucky northeast direction from the capital. It is also said to have been a temple of prayer for Emperor Saga, and it is counted with Kongoji in Osaka and Muroji in Nara as one of the three holy places of Shingon.

Rengebuji also has close ties to the Tokugawa. The hollyhock crest of the shogun's family appears on the main hall, and the precinct holds memorial shrines for Tokugawa Ieyasu and Hidetada, the Toshogu and the Taitokuin Mausoleum (Sado Sightseeing Navi).

How the Precinct Is Laid Out

The precinct covers about 3,000 tsubo (Sado Sightseeing Navi). Read together, the Agency's descriptions show buildings spreading out in every direction from the Kondo.

• The Omon Gate, a pair of stone pillars, marks the start of the approach from the north.
• The Niomon Gate stands southeast of the Kondo, facing east; the Karamon Gate divides the Kondo forecourt from the priests' quarters and guest hall.
• On a terrace northeast of the Kondo is the bell tower, with the sutra repository north of it, then the Octagonal Hall, and north again a shelter housing the Toshogu Shrine and the Taitokuin Mausoleum side by side.
• The Hassodo Hall stands on a hill north of the Kondo, and the Kotsudo on a rise behind it.
• The Guest Hall lies south of the Kondo, with the Goma Hall linked to it by a corridor; the Mitsugondo Hall is west of the Kondo and the Jizo Hall, main hall of the sub-temple Hoshakuin, to the east.
• The stone Dokkodo stands by a spring up the valley west of the forecourt, and the stone Mumyo Bridge lies on the path to the Kobodo in the inner precinct.

Each building's page covers its structure and date in detail.

Designated and Registered Buildings

Three buildings are Important Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Kondo (before 1459) and the Kobodo (1609) were designated on April 14, 1906, and the Kotsudo, from the early Nanboku-cho period (about 1348), was added on September 2, 1989.

The sixteen Registered Tangible Cultural Properties were all registered on August 21, 2002 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). They range widely in date, from the Dokkodo with its inscription of 1622 to the Omon Gate of 1928.

Visiting

According to Sado Sightseeing Navi, Rengebuji is at 182 Kobie, Sado City, about 11 minutes by car from Ogi Port. By bus, get off at Ogi Onsen-mae on the Akadomari or Ogi line and walk about 30 minutes. There is parking for 100 cars. Telephone: 0259-86-2530.

The hydrangeas are at their best in July (Sado Sightseeing Navi). No official information on visiting hours or fees was found, so check with the temple before you go.

Next door is Kobie Shrine, once the temple's guardian shrine, which was separated from Rengebuji in the Meiji period (Sado Sightseeing Navi).