, is a Shingon Buddhist

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 Kasai

Kasai, Hyogo

is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 49,496 and the density of 336.31 persons per km². The total area is 150.19 km²....

, Hyōgo Prefecture

Hyogo Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is Kobe.The prefecture's name was previously alternately spelled as Hiogo.- History :...

, 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...

. Its mountain name (sangō) is Senjōsan (泉生山). Emperor Shōmu

Emperor Shomu

was the 45th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Shōmu's reign spanned the years 724 through 723.-Traditional narrative:...

 ordered its construction in the 17th year of the Tenpyō

Tenpyo

, also romanized as Tempyō, was a after Jinki and before Tenpyō-kanpō. This period spanned the years from August 729 through April 749. The reigning emperor was .-Change of era:...

 era (745 AD), at the request of Gyōki

Gyoki

was a Japanese Buddhist priest of the Nara period, born in Ōtori county, Kawachi Province , to family of Korean Baekje descent. Gyōki became a monk at Asuka-dera temple in Nara at the age of 15, and studied under master Dōshō as one of his first pupils. Gyōki studied Yogacara , a core doctrine of...

, a Buddhist priest.

History

According to the temple records, the priest Gyōki

Gyoki

was a Japanese Buddhist priest of the Nara period, born in Ōtori county, Kawachi Province , to family of Korean Baekje descent. Gyōki became a monk at Asuka-dera temple in Nara at the age of 15, and studied under master Dōshō as one of his first pupils. Gyōki studied Yogacara , a core doctrine of...

 received an oracle from Sagami Myōjin (modern Sumiyoshi-jinja) instructing a temple to be built on these grounds. Gyōki took the request to Emperor Shōmu, who then ordered the construction of Sagami-ji. When finished in 745, it was named Sagami after the oracle's origins. Inscriptions on temple plaques

Commemorative plaque

A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other vertical surface, and bearing text in memory of an important figure or event...

 record later visits from various emperors

Emperor of Japan

The Emperor of Japan is, according to the 1947 Constitution of Japan, "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people." He is a ceremonial figurehead under a form of constitutional monarchy and is head of the Japanese Imperial Family with functions as head of state. He is also the highest...

 and shoguns

Shogun

A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...

, including shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tokugawa Ieyasu

 was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara  in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...

.

The building was badly damaged in the Heiji Rebellion

Heiji Rebellion

The was a short civil war fought in order to resolve a dispute about political power. The Heiji no ran encompassed clashes between rival subjects of the cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan in 1159. It was preceded by the Hōgen Rebellion in 1156...

 of 1159, and later rebuilt. The main temple was burnt down in conflicts during 1578, and was not rebuilt until the daimyo

Daimyo

is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

 of Himeji

Himeji Domain

The ' was a Japanese domain of the Edo Period, located in Harima Province .-List of lords:*Ikeda clan #Terumasa#Toshitaka#Mitsumasa*Honda clan #Tadamasa#Masatomo#Masakatsu...

, Honda Tadamasa

Honda Tadamasa

was a Japanese daimyo of the early Edo period, who ruled the Kuwana Domain and then the Himeji Domain. He was the son of Honda Tadakatsu.Tadamasa's first battle was during the Siege of Odawara, in 1590; he also fought at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600...

, agreed to aid the Ikeda clan

Ikeda clan

The was a Japanese clan that claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji. In the Edo period, several of the clan's branches were daimyo families, most notably of the Tottori Domain, and Okayama Domain. Takamasa Ikeda, present head of the Okayama Ikeda house is a husband of Atsuko Ikeda, fourth daughter...

in its reconstruction.

External links