Jozenji Temple

Jozenji Temple and its six registered buildings

Jozenji Temple (上善寺, Jōzen-ji) is a Jodo-shu Buddhist temple in Sakaemachi, Izumisano City, Osaka Prefecture, traditionally founded in 1504, and six of its buildings were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Property on July 8, 2008. Its full formal name, Byakudozan Saigan-in Jozenji, joins the mountain name Byakudō-zan to the cloister name Saigan-in.

The Shinsan Jōdoshū Daijiten, an encyclopedia published by the Jodo Shu sect, traces the temple to followers of the priest Tōyo Ryōnen (燈誉良然), who built a hall here after being drawn in by his nembutsu preaching. Ryōnen is said to have founded 48 branch temples, a number chosen to mirror the 48 vows of Amida Buddha, and monks came from east and west to study with him. Jozenji later served as the furegashira for 20 temples in Izumi Province, the temple that passed the sect's instructions down to the others. A court document granting Ryōnen the right to wear purple robes is still said to be kept here.

The temple first stood somewhere else and moved to Sakaemachi later on. Izumisano City's official tourism site says it left the Matsubara district of the city to escape pirate raids. The available sources do not agree on when the move happened, so this page leaves the date open.

Two centuries of building, three grounds for registration

The six buildings went up over roughly 200 years, between the late 17th century and the early Meiji era. The oldest is the main hall, built in 1683 and remodelled in 1755. The back gate dates from the mid-Edo period and the bell tower from 1797; the priests' quarters are late Edo, and the sutra repository belongs to the last decades of Edo rule. Only the front gate is a Meiji building.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs database records three different grounds for registration. The main hall, the priests' quarters and the bell tower are listed as models of architectural form. The sutra repository and the back gate are valued for what they add to the historic landscape, and the front gate as a structure that would be hard to reproduce today. All six are owned by the religious corporation of Jozenji and carry consecutive registration numbers, 27-0501 through 27-0506.

Seen together, the set is unusually complete. A large Jodo-shu worship hall survives beside a residence built on a matching scale, and around them stand a formal gate, a working back gate, a bell tower and a plastered fireproof store for scriptures. One walk around the grounds shows how an early modern temple of this sect was actually put together.

Layout of the precinct and a walking route

Jozenji faces west. The front gate opens onto the street, and once through it you look straight at the main hall, which also faces west. The sutra repository stands west of the hall and turns to face it, looking east across the open ground.

The bell tower, a roofed frame with no walls, stands south of the main hall. The priests' quarters lie northwest of the hall and face south, and just west of them the back gate opens north onto the Kyoshigoe Kaido, also called the Hama Kaido, an old coastal road that began in Izumisano and led over Kyoshi Pass toward Wakayama.

An easy loop enters by the front gate, stops at the main hall, takes in the bell tower to the south and the sutra repository to the west, then passes the priests' quarters and leaves through the back gate. Outside, the lanes of Sano Machiba, the old merchant quarter, carry on toward the station.

The grounds also hold objects of devotion that are not part of the registration: a large seated Amida Buddha known locally as the Senshu Daibutsu, nicknamed Kurobotoke (the black Buddha) because it was once coated entirely in black lacquer; the Sanjusanban Kannon-do; and the Mizukake Kannon, a stone Kannon that worshippers splash with water while praying for healing.

Visiting and access

Jozenji is about a 5-minute walk, roughly 350 metres, from Izumisano Station on the Nankai Main Line and Nankai Airport Line. Head toward the sea from the station and walk through the shopping arcade. Trains from Kansai International Airport reach Izumisano Station in about 15 minutes, which makes the temple a practical stop before or after a flight.

According to the city's official tourism site, the grounds are open between 6:30 a.m. and 7 p.m., there is no admission charge, and cars can park inside the precinct. Seeing the interior of the main hall requires a reservation by telephone (072-462-0819). Hours and conditions may change, so check before visiting.

For map apps, search for the postal address, 10-5 Sakaemachi; the cultural property register lists the site as 4695-1 Sakaemachi. Access rules, including entry to the interiors, differ by building.