The main part of the campaign is Yakushiji Temple. It is located in Nishinokyo Town, a short distance from Kintetsu Nara Station, where many tourists are concentrated, but it is only a few minutes’ walk, or rather a mere minute, from Nishinokyo Station on the Kintetsu Kashihara Line. The current precincts of the temple are located on the east side of the station, but remains have been found on the west side as well, so the location of the station itself gives the impression of being within the precincts of the temple at that time.
Although it is necessary to change trains at Yamato Saidaiji Station from Kintetsu Nara Station, the fact that it takes only about 10 minutes to get there is a great pleasure. The closest gate to the station is the Yoraku Gate on the north side, but the main gate is the south gate on the opposite side. Although it is a bit of a detour, you may want to take the west exit of the station and go around to the public road to start from the south side.
You can also take Nara Kotsu buses, either the 97 or 98 line to the south of the Yakushiji Temple parking lot, or the 77 line to the north of the Nishinokyo Station bus stop, the same side as the railroad. The “Nara Park & Nishinokyo World Heritage 1-Day Pass” (600 yen) covers the area from Nara City to Yakushiji Temple, so if you want to enjoy the Heijo Palace Site, Kasuga Taisha Shrine, and Naramachi, you can also take a bus.
Although there are many places in the temple complex where photography is not permitted, we have received permission to photograph them for this report.
Yakushi Temple
Location: 457 Nishinokyo-machi, Nara City, Nara Prefecture
Admission (individual): Adults 1000 yen, Junior and senior high school students 600 yen, Elementary school students 200 yen
Hours: 9:00 – 17:00 (last admission at 16:30)
Places of worship: Kondo Hall, Main Lecture Hall, Toindo Hall
Sutra copying experience (sutra payment fee): 2,000 yen and up per scroll
First of all, the history of Yakushiji Temple can be traced back to 680, the 9th year of Emperor Temmu, when the temple was dedicated to pray for the healing of the illness of the Empress Uno Sanryohime, a priestess (later Emperor Jito).
It was built in Fujiwara-kyo (Fujiwara Capital) and later moved to its present location when the capital was relocated to Heijo-kyo. During the Tempyo period (710-794), the temple was considered one of the four major temples in Japan, but many of its towers were destroyed by fire or earthquake. In 1976, the Kondo hall was completed with the donation of one million scrolls of sutras, and the main halls, including the West Pagoda, Main Lecture Hall, and Shokudo (dining hall), were reconstructed. The main halls and pagodas of the Hakuho period were restored to their original state.
In addition to preserving many national treasures and important cultural properties such as sculptures, paintings, and architectural structures, including the statue of Yakushi Sanzon in Kondo, the temple was registered as a World Heritage site in 1998. The Hosso sect of Buddhism is based on the teachings of “Tadashiki,” or spiritual awareness, and is modeled after the well-known Sanzo priest of “Saiyuki” fame, Genjo Sanzo.
The first gate we visited was the South Gate. After passing through the reception desk, one immediately comes to the Naka-mon Gate, through which the Kondo (main hall), East Pagoda, and West Pagoda can be seen in front, and the Main Lecture Hall is located behind it. It is difficult to capture the atmosphere and the sense of scale in a photograph, but the power of the building is impressive and gives a sense of the weight of history that is different from the sense one gets from modern buildings.
Waiting for us there was Tetsujo Otani, deputy chief priest of the temple. He is a well-known monk who spends most of the year traveling throughout Japan to give Dharma talks. Mr. Otani explained that the layout of the temple buildings, which can be said to be a characteristic of Nara’s temples, is designed so that visitors can study the past and the future within the temple grounds: the east and west towers enshrining Shakyamuni Buddha represent the past, the main hall enshrining the three images of the Buddha, the Kondo hall, the present, and the large lecture hall, the future of human resource development. He also told us that Nara’s temples are characterized by their “southern orientation,” “earth-footedness (inside the building),” and “metal Buddha statues. I had always lumped Kyoto and Nara together as “the ancient capital,” but it is interesting to see such differences in the historical backgrounds of the two cities.
The lantern in front of the main hall is inscribed with the words “發菩提心 荘厳國土. These words were left as the spirit of Yoshitane Takada, who aimed to restore the aforementioned Hakuho temple complex, and state that “if each individual lives with a pure heart, the whole country will become beautiful. In response to this, Deputy Chief Priest Otani explained the background, “Yakushiji Temple is a temple that thoroughly trains people how to use their minds, and Sanzang Priest was the one who really wanted to convey this way of using the mind to China.
He also told us, “Yakushiji Temple does not have any graves in the temple, and the monks do not touch any funerals. We give sutras for memorial services, but not for funerals.” “This temple studies only what will help living people to live better and happier lives,” he told us. There were many other things he told us, but I could write about them several times here, so I will spare you the rest of the story. If you want to know more about the temple, you should attend the Dharma talks and lectures that are held throughout Japan. You can check the schedule on the official website.
In addition, JR Tokai’s “EX Service” offers a special package tour of the “Datang Western Region Mural Paintings” at Genjo Sanzoin Temple with a special commentary by Deputy Priest Otani. We also recommend that you check the JR Tokai website for more information on other plans.
© Source travel watch