Honmon Hokke-shu head temple founded in 1294, with Hasegawa Tohaku-school screen paintings, a Momoyama karesansui Garden of the Sixteen Arhats, and the celebrated camellia 'Myorenji-beni'
Founded
1294
Type
Temple
Visited
Want to go
Access
About 3 min walk from Horikawa-Teranouchi bus stop, or 16 min walk from Kuramaguchi Station (Karasuma Subway Line)
Myorenji is the head temple of the Honmon Hokke-shu school, founded in 1294 by Priest Nichizo at Gojo Nishinotoin and relocated to its present site after the Tenbun Hokke Uprising. The "Juroku Rakan no Niwa" (Garden of the Sixteen Arhats) in the rear shoin is a Momoyama dry landscape garden with sixteen stones arranged to represent the ascetic practice of the arhats. The Myorenji camellia is a rar…
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Origins
Myorenji Temple is said to have been founded in 1294 by the monk Nichizo, a direct disciple of Nichiren, at Gojo Nishinotoin in Kyoto. Nichizo is renowned as a pioneering propagator of the Nichiren school in the capital. During the Muromachi period, the temple flourished as the head temple of the Ho…
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Divine Benefits
Warding Off Evil
Purification
Rebirth in Pure Land
Averting disaster, directional protection, warding off epidemics. Central at Fudo, Kannon, and Gion-related sites.