Zenko-ji

Zenko-ji is a temple whose principal image is the Ikko Sanzon Amida Nyorai. The type, with Amida Buddha at the center and the bodhisattvas Kannon and Seishi on either side within a single halo, is also called the "Zenko-ji style Amida triad." It is a non-denominational temple, and today its care and management are shared by the Tendai sect, with Daikanjin as its head temple, and the Jodo sect, with Daihongan as its head temple. According to the Zenko-ji Engi, the image reached Japan from Baekje in 552, and Honda Yoshimitsu of Shinano moved it to the present site in 642; the temple's name comes from his.

The National Treasure main hall dates from its rebuilding in 1707. Zenko-ji has suffered many great fires since its founding, the last in 1700. Rebuilding was funded by donations gathered on tours of the temple's image around the country, and for the present hall five years of such tours reportedly raised more than 20,000 ryo. The official site describes it as one of the largest wooden National Treasure buildings in eastern Japan, about 27 meters tall, 24 meters wide and 54 meters deep. It has 108 pillars, a number said to equal human worldly desires. From above, the ridge forms a T shape resembling the shumoku, the mallet used to strike a bell, hence the name shumoku-zukuri. The roof is cypress bark.

Inside, the hall is divided into the outer, inner and innermost sanctuaries, and the principal image is enshrined on the Ruri-dan at the far end. The hall is entered from the gable end, with a three-bay front porch and a curved karahafu gable over the eaves. The hanging curtains and many places in the grounds bear the standing-hollyhock crest of the Honda family, who founded Zenko-ji. The temple was also caught up in war. In 1555 Takeda Shingen moved the image and the priests to Kofu; the image passed to the Oda and Tokugawa, then to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and returned to Shinano in 1598 after more than forty years. Afterward, Tokugawa Ieyasu granted the temple an estate of 1,000 koku and recovery advanced.

In the Edo period the saying "visit Zenko-ji once in a lifetime" spread, and as a temple that taught salvation for everyone regardless of sex or rank, it drew many women pilgrims. The tale "Led to Zenko-ji by an ox" also spread then. In the Kamakura period Minamoto no Yoritomo and the Hojo family were devoted patrons, and the official site records that Chogen, Shinran and Ippen also visited. When viewing the main hall, look not only at the front but also at the side porches. The front porch is three bays wide, and each side has a one-bay porch.