Kozanji Temple 19 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Kozanji is a Soto Zen temple in the old samurai town of Chofu near Shimonoseki.

It was established originally as a Rinzai temple in 1327.

It is the 19th temple on the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

Originally called Chofukuji, by the start of the 17th century it had become somewhat dilapidated, but Mori Hidemoto had it reconstructed as a Soto temple and changed the name to Kozanji.

The highlight of the temple is the Butduden, the Buddha Hall, built in 1320. Top photo.

It is the oldest remaining example of Zenshuyo style architecture in Japan and is registered as a National Treasure.

Kozanji has numerous links to the Meiji Restoration. The mound pictured below is a memorial to all those who gave their lives for the Meiji Restoration.

Inside the Butsuden is the honzon of the temple, a Thousand-armed Kannon, as well as numerous other noteworthy statues.

28 statues were carved in the early 16th century as attendants to kannon, and 23 remain today.

Kozanji has a big, ornate two^story gate, but it was enclosed in scaffolding and tarps when I visited.

The honzon is said to have been carved by the famous sculptor Unkei.

In the entrance to the priests quarters is a statue of Idaten.

This Bodhisattva is known as a protector of monasteries....

The previous post in this series on day 25 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pigrimage was on the moss garden here at Kozanji.

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Kannonji Temple Tokushima

 

I don't have any hard data to back it up, but I would guess that one of the most common names for a temple in Japan would be Kannon-ji.

At the bade of Mount Bizan, somewhat south of the downtown area is a Kannonji that would appear to be quite old.

At least the Nio guardians are. They are said to have been carved in 1326.

They were restored in 1987.

Other than the fact that it is a Koyasan Shingon temple, I am afraid I can find no other information about it.

Tbere is a statue of En no Gyoja, photo 10, and the sign says he stayed here, but not wether a tempke was here at that time...

Steps lead up the mountainside to some old shrines, which I will cover next, and along the path were numerous Buddhist statues....

The previous post in this series on Tokushima City was on a group of shrines a little north of Kannonji.

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Garden at Kozanji Temple

 

The garden at Kozanji Temple in Chofu, Yamaguchi, is neither well-known nor well-visited, though the temple itself and its grounds are usually crowded.

Kozanji is the 19th temple on the 33 temple Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, and that was the reason for my visit. 

It's a large, Zen temple whose main hall is a National Treasure as it is one of the oldest Kara-yo buildings left in Japan. Kara-yo is the Chinese-influenced temple architecture that was introduced along with Zen in the 13th century and so is strongly associated with the Zen sects.

While wandering the grounds I was approached by a priest who engaged me in conversation. Foreign visitors to the temple are certainly not rare, so maybe he was intrigued by my pilgrim jacket.

Anyway, it was he who suggested I seek out and visit the garden which is tucked away at the side of one of the main halls and seems to have been designed to be viewed from what I presume to be the abbots residence.

Since 2020, photography of the garden has been forbidden, but not when I visited in 2014.

The buildings that view the gardenm,... the shoin, kuri, and walkway between them, were built in the late Edo Period, so it is believed that is when the garden was built.

It has a long, shinji pond, but most of the garden is moss.....

Unfortunately, the strong shadows and bright sunlight made it harder to appreciate the garden....

I suspect an overcast day might be better to appreciate the moss.....

The previous post in this series on November 27th, 2014, day 25 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, was on the old samurai district near the temple.

If you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the most recent posts.