Visit to Hiraizumi

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Hiraizumi



We took the Tohoku Main line from Ichinoseki to Hiraizumi. There were quite a few passengers on that line. I went to Tohoku for the school excursion during my junior high school period. My father also remembered going to Tohoku with his students in line with the extension of the Shikansen’s service to Tohoku at the beginning of the 1980s. I remembered visiting Hiraizumi and Matsushima, both of which were associated with the famous poet Matsuo Basho, as a part of the excursion, but I wasn’t particularly interested in the historical artefacts and monuments of Hiraizumi at that time – I couldn’t explain to Mark the features of Mōtsū-ji and Chūson-ji temples and what we would see. Thus, I had looked at the information about these historic temples on the websites and found the following details:







By the second half of the 11^th century, having become the home for Ōshū-Fujiwara lords, Hiraizumi became the centre of Ōshū politics and culture, followed by Heian-kyo, the biggest city in Kyoto, at that time. Having possessed well-preserved historic buildings – Chūson-ji, Mōtsū-ji, Muryōkō-in Ato, Mt Kinkeisan, Takkoku no Iwaya Bishamondō Hall, Hiraizumi had been evaluated as a home for temples and gardens that were created based on Buddhism, particularly the thought of Pure Land Buddhism, and was registered as a World Heritage site in 2011. Owing to the fire and the fact that its facilities had been outdated in the later years, many of these historic buildings were demolished or lost. Nevertheless, they have been able to get them restored based on the recent year’s excavations and the ongoing research.







Hiraizumi station and the tourist information centre had plenty of information leaflets and guidebooks containing descriptions of Chūson-ji and Mōtsū-ji temples and maps and there were guidebooks and maps in several languages including English.



From the station’s square, we caught the circular bus ‘Run-Run’ and bought a one-day bus pass on the bus. Having looked at the circular bus’s route, we thought it would be sensible to visit Mōtsū-ji first and then get off at Chūson-ji: we decided to visit those places in line with the Run-Run’s route.







Mōtsū-ji temple



The Run-Run bus went to the car park adjacent to Mōtsū-ji; we got off there. There were stalls selling vegetables and dairy products directly delivered from the local farms. From the parking site we walked through the lane and reached the entrance, south of the main hall. We bought the admission ticket (¥500).



As we rambled through the site, we found Matsuo Basho’s monument. On his visit to Takadate in May 1689, he produced the poem tribute to the tragic shogun Minamoto Yoshitsune – we found the inscription of that poem on the monument.



We learned that the main hall was re-built in 1989. There were a lot of people in front of the main hall. The main hall was open to the public on 10 October 2015; we decided to look round the inside – we were just able to walk round the main prayer hall: the prayer session was carried out there at that time. Various festivals – the night festival around the Jokōdo hall on 20 January, ladies’ performance along the winding stream in spring, autumn festival commemorating Ōshū Fujiwara lords – are held at the site of Mōtsū-ji temple: we saw photos of those events displayed at the main hall.







Pure Land Garden



Afterwards, we strolled around the Oizumi ga Ike Pond. The foundations of the Heian period (794-1185) temples were maintained in almost perfect condition, and Mōtsū-ji is designated as both a Special Historic Site and a Special Place of Scenic Beauty. The two bridges were laid between the Main Hall and Kondō Enryu-ji temple via the Nakanoshima island in the centre of the pond. The design of the Oizumi ga Ike Pond was based on the image of the sea from Enryu-ji temple’s side, and consisted of tsukiyama, illustrating the mountain rocks heading to the coastlines, of suyama, transforming the shape of the coastline, which was heading towards the inland of the land, by drawing gentle curved lines, and of dejima and Chichū-Tateishi, showing the image of rugged mountain rocks. The ground of Mōtsū-ji was designed on the elements written in Japan’s oldest garden design book, Sakuteiki, and is known as Pure Land Garden. We found other features very enchanting, particularly, yarimizu – winding stream flowing from the mountain – and Jokōdo hall where Shibosatsu, four Buddhist monks and Matara-jin, the Defenders of the Law were dedicated.



Many of the trees showed gold, orange, red and yellow leaves and these colours reflected in the water of the Oizumi ga Ike Pond – it was really beautiful.







Chūson-ji Temple



Next, we caught the bus and headed for Chūson-ji Temple. The Run-Run bus went past Kanjizaiō-in Ato (remains) and Hiraizumi Cultural Heritage Centre, and ran through steep roads on the way to Chūson-ji.



We got off at the entrance of Chūson-ji Temple and found a number of restaurants, fast-food shops, souvenir shops around the bus stop.



We started climbing up on the Sando, the route designed for people visiting shrines and temples – its slopes was named Tsukimizaka – and it directly led to the area where Hondō (Main Hall) of the Chūson-ji and Konjikidō Golden Hall stand. There were places, for example, Eastern Lookout, where people can rest and overlook the Kitakami Plain and its paddy fields.



Having walked on the slope surrounded by cedar trees for half an hour, the slope had become levelled, and we could see a big building on the right hand, that was the Hondo of the Chūson-ji Temple. We decided to look round the most famous building – Konjikidō Golden Hall – and Sankōzo Museum where Ōshū Fujiwara lords’ treasures, Buddhist statues, sutras and burial accoutrement are housed. The admission fee for these buildings was ¥800 each.







Sankōzo Museum



We firstly entered the Sankōzo Museum. We found several pieces of Buddhist canon in alternating lines of gold and silver on navy paper: the one commissioned by the first Ōshū Fujiwara lord, Kiyohira; the other ones showed the scene of the Great wisdom sutra, a very well-preserved painting of a ten-storey pagoda, the chapter of ten sutras described in golden ink on deep blue paper. It was said that more than 3,000 treasures belonging to the Ōshū Fujiwara lords were found on the site of Chūson-ji temple. They are the finest craftworks executed in the late 12^th century and well-preserved ones. We also saw some of these treasures – Buddhism statues of Amida Nyorai (Buddha of Infinite Light) and Yakushi Nyorai (the Buddha of Healing), the Octagonal Pedestal inlaid with pictures of monks on its eight sides, and Keman, the gilded floral wreath ornaments, which were hung in Buddhist halls.







Konjikidō Golden Hall



Next, we went to Konjikido Golden Hall, where every single visitor at Chūson-ji would set foot. We took our memorial photos on the steps leading to the Golden Hall.







The cubic-shaped hall was designed as a building dedicated to the statues of people who were believed to have lived in the Pure Land Buddhism, as well as a mausoleum for the Ōshū Fujiwara lords – four of the representative people (Kiyohira, Motohira, Hidehira and Yasuhira)’s bodies were preserved.



The Konjikidō hall was completed in 1124 – it is the only building of the 12th century structure that has survived in its original form at the site of Chūson-ji.



Between 1962 and 1968, the Konjikidō was dismantled and restored being placed inside this outer ‘shelter’ hall to protect it for future generations. The new Shelter Hall is fireproof, dehumidified and air-conditioned, with protection against dust and destructive insects.







As expected, lots of people gathered around the room where the golden statues were displayed. They all listened the audio explanation and looked at six statues – Amida Nyorai, Seishibosatsu, Jizō Bosatsu, two of the four heavenly kings – Zōchōten and Jikokuten – and intricate decorations executed on four pillars, tie beams and four sides of the pedestal.



Apart from the roof, including statues, all the fittings and decorations inside and outside were covered in gold leaf. For the preservation, the Konjikidō Golden Hall was covered with the thick glass in the Shelter Hall.







In 1746, Matsuo Basho visited the Konjikidō Golden Hall and produced the famous poem. We found the monument with the inscription of his poem next to the building.



There were lots of people both in Sankōzō Museum and the Konjikidō Golden Hall. All the information given for displayed items was Japanese only; we couldn’t thoroughly see these valuable treasures. I went to the souvenir shop adjacent to Sankōzō Museum and bought the English guidebook for Mark.



It was just after 4 o’clock when we finished looking round the two important buildings. Being concerned about the time for the last bus, we hurriedly walked down on the Tsukimizaka slope to catch the bus.







The Run-Run bus was running in the clockwise direction. After leaving the Chūson-ji, the bus went past Takkoku no Iwaya Bishamoudō Hall, Yanagi no Gosho Ato and Mukōinryo Ato, all of which were located behind the railway line.



We came back to Hiraizumi station at 16:30. We walked on the Mōtsū-ji temple, rambled around the Oizumi ga Ike Pond, climbed on the Tsukimizaka slope and looked round Sankōzō Museum and the Kojikidō Golden Hall in the afternoon, and were rather tired; we had a little rest before catching the train for Ichinoseki. We popped in the convenience store of the station, and found chocolates and coffee packets with the name of Hiraizumi.

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Photos

The hondo (main hall)
re-built in 1989.

tsukiyama, pure land garden
illustrating the mountain rock heading to the coastlines