Toji-in Temple (等持院)
Toji-in Temple is a Buddhist temple belonging to the Tenryu-ji school of the Rinzai sect located in Kita Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture (Kyoto City).
Its honorific mountain prefix is 'Mannensan.'
It is known as the burial place of Takauji ASHIKAGA.
History
Takauji ASHIKAGA constructed Toji-ji Temple in 1341 in the area now known as Oike, Yanaginobanba, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto City and, two years later, in 1343, built the Kita Toji-ji branch temple in the area now known as Toji-in Kitamachi, Kita Ward, Kyoto City.
After Takauji's death, the Kita Toji-ji branch temple became his burial place and its name changed to 'Toji-in Temple.'
When the Yanaginobanba main temple was destroyed by fire during the Onin War, the former branch temple Toji-in became the main temple.
The author Tsutomu MIZUKAMI lodged at the temple as a young monk. The chief priest at the time, Dosetsu TSUGA, introduced Eiji SAWAMURA who was in the Kyoto Commercial High School (now the Kyoto Gakuen Senior High School) baseball team to Tokyo Yomiuri Giants Senior Managing Director, Tadao ICHIOKA.
Buildings and Gardens
Hojo (Abbot's Quarters)
The current hojo was relocated from Kaifuku-in Temple, a sub-temple of Myoshin-ji Temple in 1616 by Masanori FUKUSHIMA.
The sliding screen paintings are the work of Koi KANO. Some became damaged during the Meiji Restoration and film shoots.
Gardens
It is said that they were designed by Muso Soseki but it is also said that they have a mid-Edo period style. The Seiren-tei tea house sits on the opposite shore of the pond in the garden to the north of the hojo. In the middle of the gardens stands a Hokyoin pagoda that is said to be the burial place of Takauji ASHIKAGA. The gardens originally incorporated the surrounding scenery of Kinugasayama (Kyoto Prefecture) into their design, but the view has since become obstructed by the expansion of the Kinugasa Campus of Ritsumeikan University.
Reiko-den hall
Stands to the west of the hojo. In addition to the principal image statue of Ksitigarbha, it also houses wooden statues of successive Ashikaga Shogun and Ieyasu TOKUGAWA.
Wooden Statues of successive Ashikaga Shogun Housed within Reiko-den
The statues of successive Ashikaga Shogun housed within Reiko-den are given below.
* The order of succession is that used at Toji-in Temple and different from the generally accepted order.
From left to right
First shogun:Takauji ASHIKAGA (Toji-in)
Second shogun: Yoshiakira ASHIKAGA (Hokyo-in)
Third shogun: Yoshimitsu ASHIKAGA (Rokuon-in)
Fourth shogun: Yoshimochi ASHIKAGA (Shojo-in)
Sixth shogun: Yoshinori ASHIKAGA (Fuko-in)
Seventh shogun: Yoshikatsu ASHIKAGA (Keiun-in)
Eighth shogun: Yoshimasa ASHIKAGA (Jisho-in)
From right to left
Ieyasu TOKUGAWA (Tosho Daigongen)
* Relocated from Iwashimizu Hachiman-gu Shrine Hozo-bo
* Although he is not one of the successive Ashikaga Shogun, he is closely related to the Ashikaga Shogun family because he appointed the Ashikaga family including the Kira clan and Imagawa clan to the Tokugawa Shogunate as Koke (a noble ranking below a Daimyo), as well as granting the descendants of Takauji ASHIKAGA's third son and Muromachi Shogunate first Kamakura kubo (Kamakura governor-general) Motouji ASHIKAGA the 5,000-koku Kizuregawa Domain in Shimotsuke Province and appointing them 100,000-koku Daimyo (Kizuregawa family), despite the fact that the small stipend was far lower than even 10,000-koku.
Ninth shogun: Yoshihisa ASHIKAGA (Jotoku-in)
Eleventh shogun: Yoshitane ASHIKAGA (Keirin-in)
Twelfth shogun: Yoshizumi ASHIKAGA (Hoju-in)
Thirteenth shogun: Yoshiharu ASHIKAGA (Bansho-in)
Fourteenth shogun: Yoshiteru ASHIKAGA (Kogen-in)
Fifteenth shogun: Yoshiaki ASHIKAGA (Reiyo-in)
Cultural Properties
Light color on paper painting of Toji-ji Temple: A Nationally designated Important Cultural Property