After emerging from the forested mountain I come into what is in essence a suburb of Kobe, albeit in a valley separated from Kobe by Rokko Mountain. I cross the Yamada valley to the northern side and find the entrance to Mudo-ji, the tenth temple on the Kinki Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage.
The long approach is lined with statues representing the 88 Shikoku Pilgrimage temples.
Mossy steps lead up to the compact temple grounds with a bell tower, an elegant main hall, and an imposing, thatched residence.
The origins of Mudo-ji date back to the end of the 6th century, the very early days of Buddhism in Japan, and to the semi-legendary Prince Shotoku Taishi.
Along with his Soga Clan relatives, Shotoku Taishi was in conflict with the Mononobe Clan, and he asked a sculptor to carve a series of statues of Dainichi Nyorai and other Buddhist deities. Upon the defeat of the Mononobe he ordered the construction of seven halls to house the statues and this became Fukuji Temple.
The temple went through numerous changes and by the mid 18th century was in a dilapidated state. A twenty year fundraising campaign led to it being rebuilt in 1752. The main hall and priests' quarters date to that time.
There was a private ceremony going on when I was there so I was not able to enter the main hall, which is a real shame as I found out later that the Treasure House, entered through the main hall, houses 5 Important Cultural Properties.
The 5 ancient statues are a 3-meter-tall statue of Dainichi, the honzon of the temple, a seated Shaka Nyorai, believed to be the oldest of the statues, a seated Amida, a seated Fudo Myoo, and a standing 11-headed Kannon. They are all believed to have been carved in the mid-Heian Period.
There was a small, seemingly fairly new, Goma Hall in which I found a Fudo....
I wish I had been able to see the one in the Treasure Hall...
Immediately adjacent to the temple, and once its guardian shrine, is Wakaoji Shrine, another Important Cultural Property.
It was established in 1297, the current shrine , within its protective outer structure, dates to 1408.
It enshrined Wakaoji Gongen, the mountain guardian of the temple.
In the late 19th century, when the shrine was separated from the temple, the main kami changed to Izanagi.
Mudo-ji is now a Shingon sect temple.
As well as the Kinki Fudo Myoo, the temple is on several other pilgrimages; it's number 12 on the Kobe 13 Buddhas Pilgrimage, and number 9 on the Settsu Kannon Pilgrimage.
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