Hongakuji (本覺寺)

April 19, 2024

Hongakuji (本覺寺)

Hongakuji (本覺寺)

Belfry

There is a Buddhist temple (Nichiren Shu) called Hongakuji (本覺寺), officiailly Myogonsan Hongakuji (妙厳山本覺寺), standing in the area where Komachi Oji and Nameri River meet, in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture.

There used to be a hall called Ebisu-do, built by Minamoto no Yoritomo in the early days of the Kamakura period, in the area. Situated in the ura-kimon (southwest direction) of where the Kamakura shogunate buildings were, Ebisu-do was built as a tutelary hall for the Kamakura shogunate.

Bunkotsu-do

It is said when Nichiren, a prominent Buddhist priest, returned to Kamakura, after being pardoned from exile to Sado, he stayed at this hall until he left for Mount Minobu.

The hall burned down in a fire when the Kamakura shogunate collapsed.

In 1436, Ashikaga Mochiuji, who was Kanto kubo, built Hongakuji at the site appointing Nisshutsu as the founding priest.

Romon (Niomon)

Niccho, the second head priest of the temple, brought some of Nichiren's ashes from Mount Minobu which is why Hongakuji is also called Higashi Minobu ("higashi" is the Japanese term for east). They are stored in the Bunkotsu-do standing between the temple's main hall and the gate called Omon. The current building was rebuilt in 1930 after the Great Kanto Earthquake.

The gate in front of the temple's main hall, Romon, is also called Niomon since there are statues of Nio on both sides. The current gate was built in 1855 and went under repair between 2012 and 2013. The two Nio statues also went under repair between 2012 and 2016.