Kounji Temple

What Kind of Temple Is Kounji?

Kounji Temple (功運寺, Kōun-ji) is a Soto Zen Buddhist temple in Kamitakada, Nakano Ward, Tokyo, formed in 1948 when Banshoin, founded in 1574, merged with Kounji, founded in 1598; its main gate, bell tower and priests' quarters were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan in 2014.

The temple calls itself Banshoin Kounji (萬昌院功運寺, Banshōin Kōun-ji), and its mountain name is Ryuhozan. The Agency for Cultural Affairs, however, registers the buildings under the shorter name Kounji, which is also the name of the religious corporation that owns them. Maps and signs use both forms, so either will get you to the right place. Addresses differ slightly by source: the temple gives 4-14-1 Kamitakada, while the national database lists the priests' quarters at 4-14-19 and the gate and bell tower at 4-14-3.

Two Temples That Met in Kamitakada

Kounji Temple as it stands today is the sum of two older temples, both founded close to Edo Castle. According to the temple's own history, Banshoin was founded near Hanzomon, one of the gates of Edo Castle, by Imagawa Nagatoku, a son of the warlord Imagawa Yoshimoto, who invited the Zen master Butsusho Enkan to head it. After several moves it arrived in Nakano from Ushigome in 1914. Three years later, in 1917, its main hall burned down.

The original Kounji was founded in 1598 outside the Sakurada Gate of Edo Castle by Nagai Naomasa, a lord in the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu, as a memorial temple for his father and grandfather. It too moved more than once, and in 1922 it came to Kamitakada from Mita.

The two temples shared Kamitakada for 26 years before merging in 1948. Two years later, in 1950, Makoto Kindergarten opened on the grounds, and children still spend their days on the same site.

The Three Registered Buildings at Kounji Temple

All three buildings at Kounji Temple were registered on October 7, 2014, under the consecutive numbers 13-0344 (priests' quarters), 13-0345 (bell tower) and 13-0346 (main gate). Each is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building), and each was registered for contributing to Japan's historic landscape. Nakano City groups them in a single line of its list of nationally registered properties.

• Main gate: built in 1914 and renovated in 2010. A single-bay Kōraimon-style gate 3.2 meters wide, with a lattice wall on each side
• Bell tower: built around 1749 and moved to its present site in 1914. A one-bay-square tower on a tall stone base, with a floor area of 6.0 square meters
• Priests' quarters: built in 1919. A single-story timber building with a hip-and-gable (Irimoya-zukuri) roof of pantiles and a footprint of 161 square meters

Line the dates up and a pattern appears. Every one of the three arrived on this site between 1914, when Banshoin moved here, and 1922, when Kounji followed from Mita. The gate was built and the bell tower moved in the same year as Banshoin's relocation, and the priests' quarters went up two years after the main hall fire. The registered names all begin with Kounji, but the buildings belong to the years before the merger. Neither the Agency for Cultural Affairs nor Nakano City says where the bell tower was moved from.

The Grounds and the Cemetery of Kounji Temple

The national database places the main gate of Kounji Temple on the approach along the south side of the grounds and the priests' quarters a little west of center, facing south. The bell tower is registered under the same lot number as the gate. Coming in through the gate, you head north into the precinct.

The cemetery is the reason many visitors come. It holds the grave of Kira Kozukenosuke Yoshinaka, the official cast as the villain in the story of the 47 Ronin, whose family graves were long kept by Banshoin. Also buried here are the hatamoto retainer Mizuno Jurozaemon, the woodblock print artists of the Utagawa Toyokuni line, the surgeon Kurisaki Doyu, who treated Kira after he was attacked, and the novelist Hayashi Fumiko. There are family plots of the Imagawa, linked to Banshoin's founding, and of the Nagai, who founded Kounji. Nakano City registered the graves of four generations of the Kira family as a ward cultural property in April 1991, and the gravestones of Mizuno Jurozaemon and Utagawa Toyokuni in July 1994.

Getting to Kounji Temple and Visiting Etiquette

According to the temple, Kounji Temple is about an 8-minute walk from Ochiai Station on the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line, about 10 minutes from Arai-Yakushimae Station on the Seibu Shinjuku Line, and about 12 minutes from Higashi-Nakano Station on the JR Chuo-Sobu Line and the Toei Oedo Line.

Kounji Temple publishes no opening hours or admission fee, and there is no notice that any building interior is open to the public. This is a working temple where memorial services and grave visits take place every day, and it also has a kindergarten on its grounds. Come during the day, keep your voice down, and stay clear of services and of the kindergarten. If you plan to look at the three registered buildings or to visit a grave, it is wise to telephone the temple first (03-3387-6321, Japanese). The temple does not say whether photography is allowed, so ask before you raise a camera.