None of Ōsaka’s temples better combines tradition and modernity
Isshin-ji (一心寺) – Sanmon (山門)
A German version of this posting you can find here.
Eine deutsche Version dieses Artikels finden sie hier.
One of the places I usually visit while in Ōsaka is the Isshin-ji (一心寺 / いっしんじ), a Buddhist temple that is said to have been founded by Hōnen (法然 / ほうねん) in 1185. Hōnen is considered the founder of the Jōdo sect (School of the Pure Land) of Japanese Buddhism, which belongs to Amidism (also called Amitabha Buddhism).
Isshin-ji (一心寺)
The Isshin-ji gained significant importance in 1614/15 when Ieyasu Tokugawa (徳川家 康 / とくがわいえやす), who had been the first Tokugawa-Shōgun to rule all over Japan since 1603, was fighting his last great adversaries, the Toyotomi- clan. Ieyasu besieged the castle of Ōsaka, the Toyotomi’s stronghold (and ultimately conquered it). During this time, he and his troops had camped on the Isshin-ji site. After his victory over the Toyotomi, he became the patron of the temple. The tea room, designed by Enshū Kobori (小堀遠州 / こぼりえんしゅう), who was one of the architects of the early Tokugawa period and also responsible for making the second and third Tokugawa shōgun familiar with the fine art of the tea ceremony.
The popular kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII was buried on this site in 1854, which contributed to the additional popularization of the temple. In the mid-1880s there were over fifty thousand graves, which is why the high priest commissioned a sculptor in 1887 – partly for reasons of lack of space – to produce the first statue of Amida, which was to be made by combining the ashes of the deceased and resin. Bombing raids during the Second World War destroyed the temple and the six statues completed by then.
These so-called Okotsu Butsu (お骨佛 / おこつぶつ) (literally “bone buddhas”) actually go back to a four-meter-tall, colorful jizō statue from created in the year 1700, which consisted of ground bones. The seven statues available today represent the following:
- No. 7 from 1948 consists of fragments of the first six statues and the ashes of another 220,000 people,
- No. 8 from 1957 from the ashes of 160,000 people,
- No. 9 from 1967 from the ashes of 150,000 people,
- No. 10 from 1977 from the ashes of 127,619 people,
- No. 11 from 1987 from the ashes of 145,664 people,
- No. 12 from 1997 from the ashes of 150,726 people and
- No. 13 from 2007 from the ashes of 163,254 people.
The annual funeral ceremony on April 21st attracts tens of thousands of believers.
In addition to the extensive cemetery, which adjoins the temple grounds in the south…
… two buildings should be highlighted separately at this point:
The Kaizandō (開山堂 / かいざんどう)…
..
Isshin-ji (一心寺) – Kaizandō (開山堂)
Isshin-ji (一心寺) – Kaizandō (開山堂)
… and the Nenbutsudō (念佛堂 / ねんぶつどう)
Isshin-ji (一心寺) – Nenbutsudō (念佛堂)
In addition to some traditional buildings (the main hall from 1966 was only recently refurbished to the splendour of its early years – as can be seen in the pictures of the main hall above), there are also ultra-modern buildings on the grounds of the temple, of which the main gate (Sanmon / 山門 / さんもん or Niōmon / 仁王門 / におうもん) is probably the most striking.
Isshin-ji (一心寺)
This gate was completed in 1997 – and not only its actual steel and glass construction is unusual, but also the two guardian statues. These sculptures where created by the famous Japanese sculptor Mineo Kanbe (神戸峰男 / かんべみねお) (born on August 10, 1944) and represent protective deities (Niō / 仁王 / におう or Kongōrikishi / 金剛力士 / こんごうりきし). As shown here, these (almost) always consist of a deva of the “a-shape” (阿 形 / あぎょう), a deva with an open mouth that embodies the sound “a” and a deva of the “un -shape ”(吽 形 / うんぎょう), a deva with a closed mouth. They refer to the first and the last sound of the Sanskrit alphabet (but also the first and last sound of the Japanese syllable alphabet) – they represent the beginning and the end of all things. Similar to the “A” and the “O” (Alpha / Omega), which we also know from the ancient Greeks.
When looking at the two guard figures, not only die-hard German Social Democrats may feel reminded of the Willy Brandt statue in the Willy Brandt House in Berlin, which was created by Rainer Fetting.
Addresse of the Isshin-ji:
2-8-69 Ōsaka, Tennōji-ku
Ōsaka 543-0062
〒543-0062
大阪府大阪市
天王寺区逢阪２丁目８−69
How to get there:
From Tennōji Station (天王寺駅 / てんのうじえき) (exit no. 6 if you are arriving by subway, or north exit if you are arriving by Japan Rail), it is about a 15-minute walk to the temple.
It’s a walk of about 12 minutes from Shitennōji-mae Yūhigaoka station (四天王寺前夕陽ヶ丘/ してんのうじまえゆうひがおか) of the “Tanimachi” subway line (谷町線 / たにまちせん).
Opening hours:
The grounds of the Isshin-ji are usually accessible from 5 o’clock in the morning to 6 o’clock in the evening.
And very close to this place – just a five minutes walk – you can find:
Shitennō-ji (四天王寺)
– Japan’s oldest Buddhist temple
Shitennō-ji (四天王寺)
Posted by Thomas Gittel 
Ways to Japan 