1. General Information on Yamagata City

  Yamagata City is located in the Yamagata Basin surrounded by the Ou Mountains.  It has huge snow in winter while it also has the national record of highest temperature: 40.8 C (105.44 F).  They have the widest natural Fagus crenata (Japanese beech) forest and many falls because of its mountainous geographical [natural] features of the prefecture.  The current population of Yamagata City is 255,383 (February 1, 2005).

2. Yamadera (Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple)

  Yamadera (山寺) is located in the eastern part of Yamagata City, surrounded by the Ou Mountains.  If you go there from Sendai, get on a train on Senzan Line for Yamagata; it runs through the Omoshiro-yama Tunnel and you get there about 50 minutes after leaving Sendai Station.  When I went there on March 18, 2005, Yamadera was still covered with half-melting snow!
  Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple (宝珠山 立石寺), known as Yamadera (山寺), is famous as one of the most holy sites in the Tohoku District.  It was founded by the high priest Jikaku-Daishi Ennin (慈覚大師 円仁) in A.D.860 as a branch temple of Hiei-zan-Enryaku-ji Temple (比叡山 延暦寺) on Mt. Hiei near Kyoto.  Climbing about 1,100 stone steps through cedar trees along what appears to be strangely woven tapestry of the rocky mountains, no one can fail to be refreshed in a world of stillness.

  For further information of Ennin (Jikaku-Daishi),
    1. Go to the "Hiraizumi" page.
    2. Go to the "Otsu" page.

 

IMAGE	IMAGE NO.	DATA
Yamadera		Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple (宝珠山 立石寺), popularly known as Yamadera (山寺), is famous as one of the most holy sites in the Tohoku District.  It was founded by the high priest Jikaku-Daishi Ennin (慈覚大師 円仁) in A.D. 860 as a branch temple of Hiei-zan-Enryaku-ji Temple (比叡山 延暦寺) in the northern suburb of Kyoto.  Thus it belongs to the Tendai-shu sect of Buddhism.
	ymd2005-001	(Friday 18 March) Welcome Board of Yamadera Station
	ymd2005-002	(Friday 18 March) The back of the welcome board, Yamadera Station: it says "See you again" quoting the famous Basho Matsuo (松尾芭蕉)'s haiku:      静けさや (Shizukesa ya)   岩にしみいる (Iwa ni Shimiiru)   蝉の声 (Semi no Koe)   (In the silence of a mountain temple,    A cicada singing alone    Penetrates into rocks.)    (trans. Eishiro Ito.)
	ymd2005-003	(Friday 18 March) Yamadera Hotel, 4278 Yamadera, Yamagata.  Founded in the Meiji Era (1868-1912).  Popular hotel (8,500 yen per night) but remember no onsen (spa) available around this area.
	ymd2005-006	(Friday 18 March) An eastern view of Yamadera: the Tachiya River and Omoshiro-yama Hill.
	ymd2005-008	(Friday 18 March) Red Gate of Hie-jinjya Shrine in the precinct of Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  In 8260 when Ennin (Jikaku-Daishi) founded the temple, he enshrined the Shakyamuni (Gautama Buddha), "Yakushi-nyorai" (Skt. Bhechadjaguru; the Physician of Souls) and Amitabha.  Until the Edo Period (1603-1867), this shrine was called "Sanno-Gongen" (Avatar of the Mountain King).  Since the Meiji Restoration in 1868, it is the village shrine which enshrines "Oyama-Gui-no-Mikoto" (same as Avatar of the Mountain King); The Festival Day is May 17.
	ymd2005-011	(Friday 18 March) "Hon-do" (Main Hall) of Hie-jinjya Shrine in the precinct of Hojyu-san-Risshaku-ji Temple
	ymd2005-013	(Friday 18 March) Entrance to Hojyusan-Risshaku-ji Temple
	ymd2005-017	(Friday 18 March) "Konpon-Chudo" (Main Hall), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  It is said to have been built in 1356 by Kaneyori Shiba, feudal lord of Yamagata Castle.  The temple is constructed of beech whick, very rare for building material.   Even today, over 1,100 years, the sacred fire brought from Hieizan-Enryaku-ji Temple (originally from "Tendai-san" [Ch. Tian Tai Shan], China) is still burning in this hall.  It is said that when Enryaku-ji Temple on Mt. Hiei was burnt down by Nobunaga Oda in 1571 and the sacred fire went out, the fire was brought back to Mt. Hiei from Yamadera.
	ymd2005-019	(Friday 18 March) "Shofuku-Hotei-zon" (lit. Inviting Fortune Hotei [God with a Potbelly; one of the Seven Deities of Fortune] "Konpon-Chudo" Hall, Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  Pray for your fortune touching his belly!
	ymd2005-020	(Friday 18 March) Interior of "Konpon-Chudo" Hall, Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple: Over the grating the sacred fire flaming over 1,200 years and the principal image of "Yakushi-nyorai" (Skt. Bhechadjaguru; the Physician of Souls)
	ymd2005-023	(Friday 18 March) Information Board of Basho Matsuo's haiku monument and the treasure monument of Emperor Seiwa
	ymd2005-024	(Friday 18 March) Basho Matsuo (松尾芭蕉)'s haiku monument built in 1853 by his followers:      静けさや (Shizukesa ya)   岩にしみいる (Iwa ni Shimiiru)   蝉の声 (Semi no Koe)   (In the silence of a mountain temple,    A cicada singing alone    Penetrates into rocks.)    (trans. Eishiro Ito.)    It is alluded to the early 6th-century Chinese Poet Wang Ji (王籍; Jap. pron. Ozeki)'s poem "Entering Ruoye Valley" (「入若耶渓」) in which he wrote (「一鳥啼山更幽 」;「一鳥啼きて山更に幽なり」; "One bird note makes the mountain more quiet").  See the Kyoto North page: kyn2007-236: "the hanging scroll of the Kyaku-den, Daitoku-ji Temple complex."    .  Later, another Chinese poet Wang Anshi (王安石, 1021-1089) made a poem called "Zhong-shan" (「鐘山」) in which he wrote (「一鳥不啼山更幽 」;「一鳥啼かず山更に幽なり」: "The mountain becomes more quiet as not a single bird cries).  It has been discussed for a millennium that which phrase is better, Wang Ji's or Wang Anshi's.   It has the same meaning of Basho Matsuo (松尾芭蕉, 1644-1694)'s famous haiku, poem:      古池や (Furuike ya)   蛙飛び込む (Kawazu Tobikomu)   水の音 (Mizu no Oto)    (Into the old pond    A frog jumps and wakes   The sound of silent water.)    (trans. Eishiro Ito.)
	ymd2005-027	(Friday 18 March) The treasure monument (date unknown) of Emperor Seiwa 858-876; r.850-880) who ordered Ennin (Jikaku-Daishi) to build this temple wishing peace and order in the country.
	ymd2005-029	(Friday 18 March) Inner Red Gate of Hie-jinjya Shrine in the precinct of Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple
	ymd2005-031	(Friday 18 March) Monument in memory of Emperor Taisho (Yoshihito, 1879-1926; r.1912-1926) and his wife Empress Teimei (Sadako Kujo, 1884-1951)'s visit on September 18, 1908 when they were still the crown prince and the crown princess.  This monument was built by the local association of the heads of towns and villages on September 18, 1929.  In the precinct of Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple
	ymd2005-032	(Friday 18 March) "Kamakura" (a hut made of snow), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  This basin area surrounded by mountains has very heavy snow in winter.
	ymd2005-033	(Friday 18 March) Interior of "Kamakura" (a hut made of snow), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  You can see the altar shelf in the middle.
	ymd2005-036	(Friday 18 March) Statues of Basho Matsuo (Munefusa Matsuo or Haseo, 1644-1694) (left) and his disciple Sora Kawai (1649-1710) (right), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.   Matsuo named himself Basho becuase he lived in a cottage under a "basho" in Fukagawa, Edo (Tokyo); "Basho" means a Japanese banana plant; a plantain.  Born in Iga-Ueno (now Mie), he learned "Haikai" (the origin of the haiku form) from Yoshitada Todo (Sengin)in Iga and Kigin Kitamura in Kyoto.  At the age of 29, Matsuo moved to Edo for his literary ambition.  Earning his living by working for water-supply works, etc. he continued to write numerous haikus.   In 1680 he moved to a cottage in Fukagawa and received a stub of "basho" from his disciple Rika.  As the "basho" grew up very finely to the extent his neighbors admired greatly, Matsuo called his cottage "Basho-an" (Basho Cottage).  Then he often went on a trip and wrote many records of travel inserting his haikus which were later called haibun (brief prose-and-poetry travelogues) such as Oku-no-Hosomichi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North, 1689; Eng. trans., 1974), that are absolutely nonpareil in World Literature.
	ymd2005-038	(Friday 18 March) "Hiho-kan" (Treasure House), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  They possess numerous precious Buddhist images.
	ymd2005-039	(Friday 18 March) "Shofuku-no-Kane" (Belfry of Bringing Happiness), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  it was reconstructed by the 66th head priest Yuden(?).  This bell is also widely known as a "Joya-no-Kane" (the watch-night bell; the bell speeding [ringing out] the old year).
	ymd2005-040	(Friday 18 March) "Kofuku-no-Kane" ("Bell of Happiness," near "Shofuku-no-Kane"),Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  If you have a wish, toll the bell twice and pray to God!
	ymd2005-041	(Friday 18 March) Information map of Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple
	ymd2005-043	(Friday 18 March) "San-mon" (Mountain Gate), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  It was reportedly built in the Kamakura Period (1192-1333).
	ymd2005-044	(Friday 18 March) "San-mon" (Mountain Gate), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple
	ymd2005-046	(Friday 18 March) "Uba-do" (Old Woman's Hall), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  It is said that Izumo-no-kami Honma, vassal of Yoshiaki Mogami, the lord of Yamagata Castle, restored this hall in 1605: It enshrines "Jizo-son" (Skt. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva; a guardian deity of children) and the stone statue of "Datsuiba" (?Old Dressing Woman).
	ymd2005-047	(Friday 18 March) "Dai-Koro" (a great censer made of iron) in the opposite side of "Uba-do" (Old Woman's Hall), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  Visitors for worshipping their ancestors must purify their bodies here bringing their hands together as in prayer.
	ymd2005-048	(Friday 18 March) "Hyakujo-Iwa" ("A Hundred-jo Rock"; 331.4-yard Rock) viewed from "Semi-duka," Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  It is also called "Nyujo-iwa" (the Rock of Attaining Nirvana): it has the cave (width: 5.4 m x height: 7.2 m) which enshrines Ennin (Jikaku-Daishi)'s mortal remains.
	ymd2005-051	(Friday 18 March) "Semi-duka" (Cicada Barrow in memory of Basho Matsuo's haiku: see above), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  It was made by a haiku poet Kochu Sakabe from Hayashizaki (now Murayama City, Yamagat) in the eighteenth century.   It had been often controverted what kind of cicada Matsuo mentioned: after the research in late 1920s, it concluded that it was "Nini-Zemi" (platypleura kaempferi).
	ymd2005-052	(Friday 18 March) "Nio-mon" (the Deva Gate) and "Mida-hora" (Cave of Amitabha), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple
	ymd2005-053	(Friday 18 March) "Nio-mon" (the Deva Gate), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  It was reconstructed by the 65th head priest Joden(?) during 1848-1853.  The deva statues was reportedly made by Genshichiro Hirai, 13th descendant of Unkei.
	ymd2005-057	(Friday 18 March) "Kanmyo-in" (lit. Hall of a Bright Sight), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  The principal image is Amitabha.
	ymd2005-058	(Friday 18 March) "Nokyo-do" ("Scripture [Ching] Hall" left), "Kaisan-do" ("Founder's Hall" middle) and "Godai-do" ("Hall of the Five Great Wisdom Kings" right), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.   "Nokyo-do" was constructed by Yoshiaki Mogami, the lord of Yamagata Castle in July 1599.  It contains all the copies of the holy scriptures written in "Nyoho-do."   "Kaisan-do" is Ennin (Jikaku-Daishi)'s mausoleum (width: 3.6 m x depth: 7.2 m) which was reconstructed by the 65th head priest Joden(?) in 1851.  It enshrines the seated figure of Ennin and the incense of the sacred fire from Enryaku-ji Temple continually remains here over 1,100 years.   "Godai-do" was reconstructed twice, in 1714 and in 1852 by the 65th priest Joden(?).  It enshrines the five great wisdom kings of Buddhism, "Dai-Sei-Fudo-Myo-o," "Toko-3-zei-Myo-o," "Dai-Itoku-Myo-o," "Nangun-Chari-Yasha-Myo-o" and "Hoku-Kongo-Yasha-Myo-o."      *"Godai-Myo-o"---Also, five great honored ones or five honored ones.  Immovable, Conqueror of the Threefold World, Kundali, Great Awesome Virtue, and Diamond Yaksha.  Wisdom kings (Skt. vidya-raja ) are a group of deities who are said to remove all obstacles.  Depicted as angry figures, the five great wisdom kings are especially revered in Esoteric Buddhism.  In Japan, an esoteric prayer ritual known as the "ceremony of the five altars" was performed in order to defeat enemies during the Heian (794-1185) and the Kamakura (1185-1333) periods.  In this ceremony, images of the five great wisdom kings were enshrined in five altars and were worshiped. (quoted from The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism (Tokyo: Soka Gakkai, 2002).
	ymd2005-060	(Friday 18 March) "Nokyo-do" ("Scripture [Ching] Hall"), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple
	ymd2005-064	(Friday 18 March) "Shoso-in" ("Body and Nature Hall [according to Buddhism]" left), "Nokyo-do" ("Scripture [Ching] Hall" middle) and "Kaisan-do" (Founder's Hall), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple
	ymd2005-065	(Friday 18 March) "Shoso-in" ("Body and Nature Hall [according to Buddhism]"), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  It enshrines "Amida-nyorai" (Amitabha tathagata) carved by Ennin (Jikaku-Daishi) as the principal image.  It also enshrines "Bishamon-ten" (Skt. Sakra devanam Indra; the guardian of the North) carved by Unkei (-1223).
	ymd2005-066	(Friday 18 March) "Dai-Fukujo(?) Chie Kannon" (Kuan Yin [Skt. Avalokitesvara] of Great Fortune and Wisdom), "Shoso-in" ("Body and Nature Hall [according to Buddhism]"), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple
	ymd2005-067	(Friday 18 March) "Chusei-in" (lit. Neuter Hall), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  It enshrines "Amida-nyorai" (Amitabha tathagata) as the principal image.  In the opposite side stands the tomb of Yoshiaki Mogami the lord of Yamagata Castle (1546-1621).
	ymd2005-069	(Friday 18 March) "Nade-botoke Obinzuru-sama" (Stroking Buddha of Shutting up Dementia [imbecility] "Obizuru-sama"), "Chusei-in" (lit. Neuter Hall), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple
	ymd2005-071	(Friday 18 March) "Chusei-in" (lit. "Neuter Hall" left), "Konjo-in" ("Hall of the Golden Vehicle" middle rear), a shed (middle front) and probably the "Tama-ya" (the tomb of Yoshiaki Mogami the lord of Yamagata Castle, 1546-1621, right).  Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple
	ymd2005-073	(Friday 18 March) "Sanjyu-Sho-to" (Three-Storied Small Pagoda), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  It was made in 1519.  It was nominated as one of the national important cultural assets in 1952.
	ymd2005-077	(Friday 18 March) "Daibutsu-den" (Temple of a Great Image of the Buddha), "Oku-no-in" (Penetralia) [or "Nyoho-do" (Hall of Observance of the Buddha's Teachings) and "Kin-Toro" (Golden Garden Lantern), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.   "Daibutsu-den" was constructed in 1991.  It enshrines a 5-meter-high golden Buddha image.  Worshippers ask a monk to write their ancestors' posthumous Buddhist names on a stupa (dagoba) to hold a memorial service (see below).   "Oku-no-in" (formerly called "Nyoho-do") was reconstructed by the 66th head priest Yuden (?) in 1862.  The principal image is Shakyamuni (Gautama Buddha) Ennin (Jikaku-Daishi) always carried on his back on the road, and the seated figure of "Taho-nyorai" (the tathagata of many treasures): both of them are very small (only 11.1 cm high).   "Kin-Toro" was made in Yamagata City in 1859 at the request of the head priest Yuden (?): one of the Three Most Precious Japanese Garden Lanterns.
	ymd2005-080	(Friday 18 March) "Oku-no-in" (Penetralia) or "Nyoho-do" (Hall of Observance of the Buddha's Teachings), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple
	ymd2005-081	(Friday 18 March) "Daibutsu-den" (Temple of a Great Image of the Buddha), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple
	ymd2005-082	(Friday 18 March) "Daibutsu-den" (Temple of a Great Image of the Buddha), Hoju-san-Risshaku-ji Temple.  Worshippers ask a monk to write their ancestors' posthumous Buddhist names on a stupa (dagoba) to hold a memorial service.

        

Copyright (c) 2005 Eishiro Ito.  All rights reserved.