To-ji (Kyoogokoku-ji)

The capital moved to Heian-kyo in 794, and in the 29th winter after that Emperor Saga entrusted To-ji to Kukai, who had brought esoteric Buddhism back from Tang China. The temple has been the root training center of Shingon esoteric Buddhism ever since. The precinct is a rectangle 255 meters wide and 515 meters long, and the block holding the main halls is a nearly perfect 255-meter square. The Lecture Hall stands at its center, and the Dainichi Buddha enshrined there is regarded as the center of the cosmos. A look at the precinct map first makes this geometry easy to follow on foot.

The Lecture Hall was begun in 823 and finished in 839, but it burned in 1486, along with the Kondo and the South Gate, during a peasant uprising. It was rebuilt first, five years later in 1491, while the Kondo was completed in 1603, after the Battle of Sekigahara. The Kondo has a hip-and-gable, hongawara-tiled roof and blends the Tenjiku style, which drew on Song Chinese architecture, with the Japanese style, typical of the Momoyama period. The upward curve at the center of its roof also appears on the Great Buddha Hall of Todai-ji and the Phoenix Hall of Byodo-in. The main image inside is Yakushi Nyorai, flanked by the Nikko and Gakko bodhisattvas, in an old style where the Buddha holds no medicine jar. Seven small Buddhas line the halo, and the Twelve Divine Generals surround the pedestal.

The five-story pagoda is about 55 meters tall, the tallest wooden pagoda in Japan. It burned four times, partly from lightning, and the present one, rebuilt in 1644 (Kan'ei 21), is the fifth. The ground floor is closed to the public, but inside, the central pillar represents Dainichi Buddha, surrounded by Buddhas and bodhisattvas in a richly colored space, with the Diamond Realm Mandala, the Eight Dragon Kings, and the Eight Patriarchs of Shingon painted on the pillars and walls. Even seen only from outside, the tower standing above the surrounding streets gives a sense of the temple's scale.

The Miedo (Daishido) is where, in 1233, the sculptor Kosho, a son of Unkei, completed a seated statue of Kukai and a memorial service began there. The building designated a National Treasure dates from 1380, in the early Muromachi period. The Renge-mon gate is also a National Treasure and dates from the early Kamakura period. On the 21st of every month a market called Kobo-ichi is held, named after Kobo Daishi, as Kukai is also known. The Treasure Hall opens twice a year, in spring and autumn, so check the official site for this and for visiting information on each hall before you go. Walking among the Kondo, Lecture Hall, and pagoda and comparing them shows how this temple has lasted over a thousand years through repeated fires and rebuilding. The Treasure Hall, built in 1963, holds Kukai's letter known as the Fushincho and the Mandalas of the Two Realms.