Gyokusen-ji
Encyclopedia
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
temple in Shimoda
Shimoda, Shizuoka
is a city and port in Shizuoka, Japan.As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 25,054 and a population density of 242 persons per square kilometer...
, Shizuoka Prefecture
Shizuoka Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshu island. The capital is the city of Shizuoka.- History :Shizuoka prefecture was formed from the former Tōtōmi, Suruga and Izu provinces.The area was the home of the first Tokugawa Shogun...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It is noteworthy in that it served as the first American consulate in Japan.
History
The exact date of the foundation of Gyokusen-ji is uncertain, but temple records indicate that it originally a Shingon sect hermitage converted to the Sōtō Zen sect in the Tenshō period (1573-1592).The current Hondō
Main Hall (Japanese Buddhism)
Main hall is the term used in English for the building within a Japanese Buddhist temple compound which enshrines the main object of veneration. Because the various denominations deliberately use different terms, this single English term translates several Japanese words, among them Butsuden,...
was built in 1848, but soon after its completion it was commandeered by the Tokugawa shogunate
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
for use as a residence for foreign visitors to Shimoda during negotiations to end Japan’s national isolation policy
Sakoku
was the foreign relations policy of Japan under which no foreigner could enter nor could any Japanese leave the country on penalty of death. The policy was enacted by the Tokugawa shogunate under Tokugawa Iemitsu through a number of edicts and policies from 1633–39 and remained in effect until...
. It hosted officers from American Commodore
Commodore (USN)
Commodore was an early title and later a rank in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard and a current honorary title in the U.S. Navy with an intricate history. Because the U.S. Congress was originally unwilling to authorize more than four ranks until 1862, considerable importance...
Matthew Perry’s Black Ship, and Japanese authorities allowed the bodies of dead American sailors to be buried in its graveyard. Soon afterwards, it became the residence for a delegation of Russians under Vice-Admiral Euphimy Vasil'evich Putiatin
Yevfimy Putyatin
Yevfimy Vasilyevich Putyatin was a Russian admiral noted for his diplomatic missions to Japan and China which resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Shimoda in 1855.-Early life:...
, who was trapped in Shimoda at the end of 1854 when a tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
caused by the Ansei Tokai Earthquake destroyed his fleet. The temple was used during the 2nd and 3rd series of negotiations between the Tokugawa shogunate
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
of Japan, and the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, which resulted in the Treaty of Shimoda
Treaty of Shimoda
The Treaty of Shimoda of 1855, formally Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Japan and Russia , was signed between the Russian Vice-Admiral Euphimy Vasil'evich Putiatin and Toshiakira Kawaji of Japan in the city of Shimoda, Izu Province, Japan, on February 7, 1855...
of 1855.
After the Treaty of Kanagawa theoretically opened Japan to the outside world, a group of American merchants landed in Shimoda and unsuccessfully attempted to open trade relations – an issue which had not yet been settled by treaty. This group resided at Gyokusen-ji after the departure of the Russians until the arrival of Townsend Harris
Townsend Harris
Townsend Harris was a successful New York City merchant and minor politician, and the first United States Consul General to Japan...
, the first American Consul General to Japan in 1856. Harris remained in residence at the temple for two years and ten months. During his stay, Harris demanded that the Japanese provide him with milk and beef.
Gyokusen-ji today has a monument decorated with the image of a cow, which the temple claims to mark the site where the first four-legged animal to be slaughtered for human consumption was killed. Its English language sign reads:
"This monument, erected in 1931 by the butchers of Tokyo, marks the spot where the first cow in Japan was slaughtered for human consumption. (Eaten by Harris and Heusken)".
Other memorials include a commemoration of the temple as the birthplace of Japanese milk production, and another commemorating the visit of President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
in 1979.
Five Americans and three Russians who died in Shimoda in the 1850s are buried in the temple cemetery.
The temple has preserved the rooms used by Townsend Harris and Henry Heusken as the “Townsend Harris Museum”, with documents, ukiyoe, and manikin doll dioramas describing the temple during the Bakumatsu period. The temple and its grounds were designated at National Historic Monument in 1951.