Sanbutsuji is a Buddhist temple of the Tendai sect in Misasa-cho, Tohaku-gun, Tottori Prefecture. The mountain name is called Mitokusan.
The opening of the mountain was said to have been opened by the actors as a place for the Shugendo in Keiun 3 (706), and then by Jikaku Daishi Ennin in Kasho 2 (849), the main Buddha Shaka Nyorai, Amida Nyorai and Dainichi Nyorai It is said that the three Buddhas were enshrined.
It is a mountain temple with the precincts at Mt. Santoku (900 meters above sea level), which is located almost in the center of Tottori Prefecture. In the old days, Mt. The building of the house, widely known as Nageireido, is a unique building built in a vertically steep dent and designated as a national treasure. Mt. Tokuyama was designated as a National Historic Site and a scenic spot on July 7, 1934.
history
Legendary era
According to the Hokimindanki, in 706, the founder of Shugakudo began to worship the three founders of childcare, Genkaten and Zao Gongen. It has been. The bronze Buddha of the Asuka era exists as the grounds for the opening of the mountain, but it has now flowed out and is not in the temple. It is imagined that Mt. Santoku (before the modern era, often referred to as “Mitokusan”), as well as Mt. Daisen and Mt. In addition, child care rights Gen, Karate Gen, and Zao Gongen are all gods worshiped at Mt. Yoshino (the spiritual site of Shukendo) in Nara Prefecture. According to the above-mentioned Hokimindanki, Jikaku Daishi Enjin enshrined the three Buddhas of Shaka Nyorai, Amitabha Nyorai, and Dainichi Nyorai in 849, and called Jodoin Mitokuzan Sanbutsuji. It is transmitted that it has been issued.
After the Middle Ages
The history of the temple until the end of the Heian period is not so clear, but the document contained in the statue of the devastating Okuin (Shoudo) in the image of the development of Masamoto and Zao Gonzo (Jinan 3rd year (1168)) There is a diary. The building of the Okuin (Shindo) building dates back to the late Heian period (early 12th century) based on architectural styles and tree-ring dating surveys. It is. Since the Middle Ages, the name of “Mitokuzan” has been scattered throughout documents and records, but the temple name of “Sanbu-ji” appears in the literature only after the middle of the Edo period. According to historical sources, there was a person in Mt. Santoku (1184) named “Miko of Emperor Go-Shirakawa” (Miko of the institute), and this is the first description of Mt.
In the early modern era, one hundred stones from the nearby Sakamoto Village (Sakamoto, Misasacho) were donated to Sanbutsuji Temple in Keicho 4 (1599), and one hundred years from the Tottori feudal lord Mitsutoshi Ikeda in Kanei 10 (1633). Donate a stone. These territories were maintained until the end of the Tokugawa period. In 1039 (Tenpo 1018), Masanori Ikeda rebuilt the main hall and received the protection of the Tottori feudal lord throughout the early modern era.
Precincts
The precinct is essentially divided into a mountainous area that can be accessed by a general approach such as a stone stairway, and a mountainous area that can be accessed only by a steep climbing road (peer road).
In the Yamashita area, there are three children’s institutes near the entrance to the approach: Kaseiin, Shozenin, and Rinkoin, followed by the treasure hall and Sanbutsuji in the back. The main hall is built.
After the Ikuribashi bridge, which is behind the main hall, there is a mountainous area that can be accessed only by a steep pedestrian road with a history of a slide accident. , Jizo-do, bell tower, Nakei-do, Kannon-do, Motoyukake-do, Fudo-do, Ido-do, etc.
In addition, entry into the mountainous area is set to be “from 8:00 to 15:00″, and entry is prohibited during the winter season (December to March of the following year) and stormy weather, as well as during this time period. In addition, when entering, it is necessary to go through the mountain entry procedure specified by the temple side, but see below.
Oku-no-in Temple ”Input Hall”
The temple at the back of the temple, Ito-do, is built in the depression of a cliff on the northern flank of Mt. Santoku, after climbing the steep mountain trail described above. Overhanging. The place where the hall is located is literally a cliff, and worshipers can go up to the point where they look diagonally upward, but approaching the hall is dangerous and is strictly prohibited.
The input hall is a suspended (stage) building . In the sumi book of the repair ridge bill in 1375, the word “Hakushu Santoku Sanno-Zen Zan-no-den” appears to be the original name of the temple. The temple was designated a national treasure in 1952. Aizedo, a small building connected to the east side, is designated as a national treasure. In addition, one of the above-mentioned building tags from Eiwa and 43 old materials that were not reused during the dismantling and repair in 1915 are also attached to national treasures .
The roof is built in style , cypress bark, and eaves roofs are laid down on the east (left) and west (right) sides, respectively. At the northwest corner (right front), a lower eaves roof will be provided. The plane is between girder rows (frontage) 1 and between beams (depth) 2 (the “interval” here is not a unit of length but means the number between columns). However, the back of the girder row also has a pillar in the center, which is between the two. The part between the girder row 1 and the beam space 1 in the back (the body) is enclosed by a horizontal wall, and the eaves on the front and west sides are provided with a rectangular bend. The plane including the outer rim is 5.4 meters east-west and 3.9 meters north-south.
The body part surrounded by walls is set up on the front and west sides , and a double-sided board door is provided. The front door opens inward, and the west door opens outward. A small kumiga ceiling is set up inside the body. The ceiling is divided into five east-west sections and three north-south sections according to the borders. Of these sections, the three east-west sections and the two north-south sections at the center of the back are raised by one step to form a platform. In the past, seven Zao rights developments were enshrined on this stage, but now each statue has been moved to the treasure hall in Yamashita.
For the pillar, use a circular column around the body and a chamfered prism around the eaves. The chamfer of the prism is very large, and the cross section is almost octagonal, which is characteristic of Heian architecture along with the gentle slope of the roof. Making the main pillars thick and the eaves columns relatively thin is also a feature of Heian architecture, which is common to Byodoin Phoenix Hall, etc., making the entire building lighter by making the outer pillars that are more noticeable thinner. I have. The body is hardened with a long push on the column, and the elbow is placed on the column to receive the girder. The eaves place the boat elbow on the prism and support the eaves girder. Each pillar stands upright on the bedrock, and the bedrock is ground where the pillars stand. Small holes were found on the bedrock other than where the pillars were standing, and it is presumed that they were used to build scaffolds during construction.
Unlike the stage at Kiyomizu-dera Main Hall (Kyoto), the horizontal columns do not pass through the columns extending under the floor of the input hall, but are hardened with diagonal struts. The roof has a simple structure that passes rafters (ground rafters) from the purlin to the front and back, and the front side passes a hiebaru rafter to the tip of the rafters. The Hibashi rafters are called “Uchigoshi rafters” that extend over the eaves girder. A railing is provided at the outer periphery, and the point that the cross section of the bridge (hog, the horizontal member at the top) of this railing is not circular but rectangular is different.
A small Aizen-do is connected to the east of the input hall (to the left). Aizen-do has a girder line and a beam space, one gable, gabled cypress, and tsumiri , with the west side facing the input hall facing the front. A floor is set lower between Iriido and Aizendo (below the east eaves of Iriido). At present, however, the eastern edge of the entrance is blocked by a lattice, making direct access between the entrance and Aizedo impossible. It is not clear when this grid was installed. The front end of Aizen’s gable roof is cut under the eaves roof east of the entrance hall, and the Aizendo gable board is nailed to two pillars that support the eaves roof.
The input hall is estimated to be from the late Heian period based on its architectural style. However, like Minoru Ooka, this building has been remodeled, and some researchers say that the age of the building differs from that of the body and eaves. A tree ring dating survey conducted by Takumi Mitani and others at Nara Research Institute for Cultural Properties in 2001 and 2002 showed that the 1098 ring dating at the end of the 11th century was obtained from the northern edge plate. This suggests that the input hall was in its current form in the first half of the 12th century. However, many parts have been replaced by frequent repairs since its construction. Of the pillars, the pillars at the northwest corner of the outer perimeter that support the eaves roof, and the pillars just south of them (both have little wind erosion) are new materials that were replaced by repairs in 1915 (Taisho 4).
From 2003 to 2006, conservation repairs such as roofing were implemented, and scaffolding for construction was built around the hall. At that time, Shigeru Kuboji, who conducted a survey of the building (including a survey of old materials that were replaced and not reused in repairs in 1915), showed traces of red and white coloring throughout the hall. At present, the input hall has almost no decorative elements, and was once considered to be a building made of wood, but according to a survey by Kuboji, the input hall was red with structural materials such as pillars, long pushes, rafters and doors It turned out that the walls, the ceiling of the main building, the ceiling lining, etc. were painted white. Kubota presumed that copper ornaments were attached to the mouth of the rafters from the patina that was detected as traces of patterns remaining on the rafters.
As is clear from the photo of the entrance hall, there are no entrances on either the front or side of the hall, and those who enter the hall with special permission are required to go along the cliff, go under the floor of the hall and rise from the back to the edge. Become.
As mentioned above, the entrance hall is strictly forbidden to enter, but on November 14, 2007, the Ochikei Honorable Memorial celebrating that it was restored for the first time in about 100 years was run in the hall, After a public visit to the temple for the first time in about 60 years, three people selected from about 340 physically healthy applicants over the age of 18 changed their clothes into sandals, working clothes and robes. He joined the memorial service along with the priest of the temple, Ryonaka Yoneda, and the priest of Santokuzan Minseiin Shimizu Shimizu, the resident of the temple.
It is a unique structure that is unprecedented in the history of Japanese architecture, and it is an excellent work from the viewpoint of architectural beauty, such as the lightly curved roof and the various pillars that support the hall. It was handed down that the founder of Shugendo, the role of Kokaku, threw the entire building from the flat ground with its legal power. The name of the input hall comes from this legend.
On June 1, 2001, Misasa Town and Tottori Prefecture, where the input halls are located, have begun activities aimed at becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
About the bell tower (night bell)
The bell tower, which is positioned as a facility to tell the time in the temple, is accessible only by the pedestrian streets in this temple, and is located in the mountainous area (Jizo-do・ Kannon-do).
For this reason, for example, in the case of the bell at night, held every year on New Year’s Eve, people related to this temple and several local volunteers climb in the middle of the night, which is normally a no-going time zone, and there are hundred and eight hundred bells .
Since it is held during the winter months, when snow often accumulates, and late at night, the participation of general worshipers has been refused, but on New Year’s Eve in 2013 (2013), as part of the Mt. A public recruitment of participants who were 18 years old or older and experienced mountain climbing worship at the entrance hall under the name of “ The most dangerous bell in Japan at night ” and performed a hundred and eight bells with some general participants according to this .
Cultural property
National treasure
Three Buddha Temples
Aizen-do, one bill (Eiwa 1st year), 43 old materials. The explanation has already been given.
Important cultural property
Wenshu temple
Late Muromachi period. Irimoya, Kokera thatched. It is located in the mountains on the way to the house. The interior is usually closed, but it was opened with Jizodo in 2006 to commemorate the 1,300 years of its creation. The building was formerly considered to be of the Momoyama era, but the date of construction is expected to increase slightly due to the discovery of a new ink book from the temple in Eiroku 10 (1567).
Jizodo
Late Muromachi period. Irimoya, Kokera thatched. It is located in the mountains on the way to the house.
Nyodo
Late Heian period. This is a small Kasuga shrine dedicated to the guardian deity. It was previously considered to have been built in the Kamakura period, but it was found from timber ring dating that it dates back to the late Heian period.
Wooden Zao right standing statue
(Formerly enshrine in Okuin) (Attachment to the paper book sumi-jin three-year construction request)-Okuin Sh hall do Masamitsu, currently enshrined at Sanbutsuji Treasure Hall. This is a typical Zao rights development in which the right foot is raised and the flame hair is upside down, but the expression of anger is modest and the overall style is a gentle style typical of late Heian sculpture. There is a diary of Nin’an 3rd year (1168) in the delivery document in the womb. It is said to be Konkeisaku by the expression in the womb. In recent years, the Nara Institute of Cultural Properties has performed tree-ring dating, and has reported that it has a 1165 bark-type logging age.
Wooden Zao right standing statue 7
The one enshrined at the input hall together with the above statue. The styles and styles of the seven bodies are different, but each style is simpler than the original statue. In 1920, it was designated as an Important Cultural Property as “6 wooden statues of Zao right”. Later, an additional statue of the Zao right statue (1002 sapwood type), which was enshrined as Gozendate, was additionally designated in FY2017.
Eleven wooden wooden statues of Kannon
(Originally Kannon-do enshrine)-Late Heian period. The Important Cultural Property designation is “Wooden Seikandin Statue”. Although the eleven faces above have been lost, it was originally erected as an eleven-faced Kannon image.
Copper mirror (Nakadai Yabain mirror image)
There is an inscription of the disciple Hirayama Hongya in 3rd year (997 years). On the mirror surface, Buddhas of Nakadai Yayoin, located in the center of the Buddha Mandala, are engraved. The mirror pattern is two parrots with flowers. The mirror itself is believed to be made in China (Tang).
Tottori Prefecture designated protected cultural property
Bell Tower-Kamakura period materials are preserved.
Kannon-do-Early Edo period
Motokakedo-early Edo period
Eleven Side Kannon-do (Nogiwa Inari)-Middle Edo Period
Sanbutsuji Temple Main Hall-Late Edo Period
Fudodo-Late Edo period
Birth of Buddha’s Buddha Statue-Heian Period
Wooden Amitabha Statue-Late Heian period (11th-12th centuries). Image height 147.5㎝, wooden structure, inner molding, sculpture. A secret Buddha at the main temple. The overall sculpture is shallow and gentle, with a large head, a round face, a narrow face and an adorable statue. It had been kept in a kitchen with high humidity for a long time, so it was impossible for the independence to be achieved. However, it was restored in 2002 with the support of the Sumitomo Foundation.
Wooden Komainu (Agata)-Late Heian period
Wooden komainu-Kamakura period
Tottori prefecture designated scenic spot
Shozenin Garden-Mid Edo period
Santoku
Mitokusan is a mountain in Misasa-cho, Tohaku-gun, Tottori prefecture. 899.6 meters above sea level. It is said that in 706 it was decided as a spiritual place of study by an official. Yamana worships Zao, Komori and Katate’s Sansho Gongen in Yamauchi, and the origins of the mountain are given the three virtues of “Fukutoku”, “Sotoku”, and “Sutoku”, as well as the “legal (beautiful)”, “Hanya (without smog)”, Liberation (working heart) “. At the foot is Santokusan Sanbutsuji, which has a national treasure hall.
The whole area of Mt. Santoku is the precinct of Santokusan Sanbutsu-ji Temple (Tendai sect), and the building of Okunoin, which is widely known as Nageido, is built to float on a middle cliff. The building is not seen and is designated as a national treasure. All mountains are designated as national scenic spots and historic sites. We applied for a recommendation to a World Heritage Site, but the matter was continued.
In 2014, an area of 300 ha was included in the Oyama Oki National Park area. In 2015, “Mitokusan Misasa Onsen” was recognized as the first “Japanese Heritage”.
Mito is the mascot character.
Origin and geology
Approximately 1.3 million years ago, the Cenozoic Tertiary, this volcano erupted from the basement granite layer, the Oshika Tuff Breccia Formation, and the Idodo Tuff Breccia Formation. The mountain consists of pyroxene andesite with high fluidity. Although it has been eroded by wind and rain for many years, a gentle slope that seems to be the original terrain remains from the top to 600 meters above sea level. On the southern slope, steep cliffs of 40 to 60 meters have developed due to erosion.
Bunju-do, Jizo-do and Belfry-do, which are the temples of Sanbutsu-ji Temple, erode on the cliff of the tuff breccia layer, and Nokeido, Kannon-do, Motokake-do and Ido-do erode at the border between the tuff breccia layer and Santokuzan andesite. It is built on the rocks and cliffs created by the. In particular, the input hall was built using the cliffs created by the selective erosion of the tuff breccia layer, which is the lower layer, and the andesite layer, which is the upper layer. Andesite has columnar joints that allow you to follow the direction of lava flow.
There is another valley river from Santoku that is not called the Tokugawa River, and there are three waterfalls in the mountains: Fudo Falls, Shinja Falls and Ryutokuin Falls. However, the waterfall is in a deep virgin forest and cannot be approached.
Nature
There is only one mountain trail up to the input hall on the middle side, and the whole mountain is covered with unexplored virgin forest, so valuable flora can be seen. In addition, plants from both the warm and cold regions are intermingled.
There are many yabutsubaki to Sanbutsu-ji. Beech trees are prominent from around Wenshu Monastery at 300 meters above sea level. Above the input hall at an altitude of 450 meters, there are red pine, red oak, and soyogo. In Santoku, red pine and red oak, which are usually located below the beech forest, are located above the beech forest, and the flora is reversed. This is thought to be caused by the cool air coming from the deep valley created by the Santoku River and the Sake Tori River at the foot of the mountain. Therefore, autumn leaves also start at the bottom of the mountain at Santoku and gradually move upward. A similar flora reversal phenomenon can be seen in the scenic spot, Okakei, on the south side of Mt.
The rare plants found in Mt. Santoku include the epiphytes Sishinran, Mitokunadeshiko (endemic), Tsukushaku Rhododendron, Unzenmannengusa, Hanamiyoga. However, these plants have become less plated due to the recent increase in climbers.
There are not many large birds and beasts. In the birds, river squirrels and creatures can be seen in the Santoku River and the Detached River. In the forest, there are jays, kogella, Akagera, and Aogera. White-eye, parus, great tit, brown tit, enaga, higara, kikuitadaki, etc. may appear in groups.
There are abundant land snails and insects, but no real research has been done.
Road to Input Hall
As noted above, the input hall is located within the mountainous area (area end) accessible only by the steep mountain trails (people’s paths). For this reason, it is necessary to complete the climbing procedure at the mountain climbing office located behind the main hall for worship at the temple (reception hours “8: 00-15: 00″). At this time, the temple will be checked for shoes and clothes.
Sanbutsu-ji says that entering the mountain is not a sightseeing trip, but a practice, so you pay the mountain entry fee separately from the Sanbutsu-ji admission fee, fill out the mountain entry notice, and write the loaned “ Rokune Kiyoshi ” Wearing a robe and climbing the pedestrian street from the inn bridge directly behind. At the time of descent, the mountain climbing office returns the plow and asks for the descent time to be entered in the notification of the descent, so that the descent can be checked for descent and prepared for an accident.
The way to the input hall is very steep, and people wearing inappropriate clothing and shoes for climbing may be refused entry, especially women’s skirts are strictly prohibited and slacks are also undesirable. ing. Shoes with spikes on the bottom are also forbidden from the standpoint of preventing pedestrian paths and tree root damage. When visiting the temple, the temple requires that both hands can be used, such as wearing easy-to-move clothes and shoes suitable for mountain climbing, and packing luggage in rucksacks. ) And towels are recommended. For the shoes used here, the temple side recommends the use of mountain climbing shoes without metal fittings, but it seems that shoes with rubber grooves with deep grooves can be used. The climbing office sells sandals for worshipers who wear shoes that are not suitable for climbing.
In addition, there is no water place for hydration and it is desirable to prepare equipment such as a water bottle on the road of the pedestrian, but also note that it is not good to drink too much water from the beginning because there is no toilet on the way. is necessary. The climbing office is equipped with drink vending machines and toilets.
As mentioned above, since the temple side accident is not endless, it is currently refused to enter alone.
On the way to the input hall, there are Nogiwa Inari, Bunjudo, Jizodo, Bell Tower, Nakei-do, Kannon-do, Motokake-do, Fudodo, etc. (Bunjudo, Jizodo and Nkeido are important cultural properties, others are designated as Tottori Prefecture) Protected cultural assets). Indeed, it seems to be the center of mountain worship, and on the way from the foot of the mountain to the entrance hall, especially from the foot to the bell tower, the undulating natural mountain road is left as it was, with little improvement. Because there are many very severe parts.
The journey with a height difference of about 200 meters and a total length of about 900 meters from the back of the main hall, about 200 meters in height, can be said to be a difficult place, and depending on the situation, clinging only to iron chains and ropes, sometimes even bare tree roots Each time, you will go up and down while securing a foothold. It should be noted that downhills are much more difficult to get through.
As mentioned above, it is necessary to step into a steep pedestrian street in order to see the entrance hall directly from near, but on the other hand, there are places where you can see the entrance hall from the footway, There is a parking lot and a free telescope.
Mountain climbing
There is a trail behind the main temple of Sanbutsu-ji Temple, and there is a worship trail with a total length of about 900 meters to the entrance hall and a height difference of about 200 meters, but you cannot climb to the summit. It is located on the grounds of Sanbutsuji Temple and requires a mountain entry fee. There are many dangerous places, and there have been several slide accidents including death.