Myohoji of Tendai School of Buddhism
Myohoji of Tendai School of Buddhism

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トップ＞Myohouji of Tendai School of Buddhism (Busondera)

About 1300 years after its foundation, Myohoji Temple of the Tendai sect is located is located in the Marugame castle town a prayer temple for the Marugame feudal lord Kyogoku clan.

The temple is dedicated to Kongokai Dainichi Nyorai (Mahavairocana-tathagata of the Diamond Realm). Daikokuten image, believed as the work of St. Saicho, The image of Ganzan Daishi Gomason is believed to guard us against evil spirits and misfortune.

Yosa Buson, a haiku poet and painter, stayed several times in Myohoji and composed haiku and drew pictures. This is therefore why Myohoji’s other name is called “Buson’s temple”.

About Myohoji Temple

In the 8th century, a noted priest St. Gyoki who was admired as “Bodhisattva”, built a small temple in Shoinzan Toyohama-cho Wada in Kagawa Prefecture at the time he had been traveling around the country.

In 1597, the feudal lord of Marugame Castle moved the temple to the present place.

In 1669, the temple was converted to Tendai School from Nichuren Buddhist temple and restarted as a branch temple of Bishamondo in Kyoto.

Between 1766 and 1768, Yosa Buson, a haiku poet and painter, stayed several times in Myohoji and composed haiku and drew pictures. He presented six pieces of his art works to the temple when he left. This is therefore why Myohoji’s other name is called “Buson’s temple”.

Myohoji served as the temple to offer prayer for the Marugame feudal lord and his clan.

Built in 1885, the main gate (Chokushi gate) retains various designs, including the Temple’s crest of “Bizen Butterfly”.This gate was designated as a national registered tangible cultural property in 2023.

Kongokai Dainichi Nyorai

The temple is dedicated to Kongokai Dainichi Nyorai (Mahavairocana-tathagata of the Diamond Realm).

Dainichi means “great sun”. All living things are said to have been born from Dainichi Nyorai, and other Buddhas are considered to be incarnations of Dainichi Nyorai. For this reason, among the Nyorai, only Dainichi Nyorai is unique in that it wears ornaments and a coronet, and its hair is tied up rather than spirally.

Ganzan Daishi Omikuji Prayer Place

The image of Ganzan Daishi Gomason is believed to guard us against evil spirits and misfortune. The most popular spot may be the temple of Ganzan Daishi Lottery. This is the place where the successive head priests have served to offer advice for visitors’ problems through the drawing of lots.

  • Ganzan Daishi Omikuji Prayer Place
  • Ganzan Daishi Omikuji Prayer Place

History of the name “Buson-dera”

Yosa Buson was one of the three great masters of haiku poetry in the Edo period, along with Basho Matsuo and Issa Kobayashi.

During Buson’s stay in Myohoji, he drew six masterpieces. The temple has treasured them and kept them in good care. This is the reason why Myohoji is called “Buson-Dera”. Among them, the most famous painting is “Sotetsu zu (the Cycad)”. All were designated as important national assets on June 22, 1971.

  • History of the name 'Buson-dera'

Buson’s art works on display

About the four works drawn by Yosa Buson In the main hall and Yosa Buson’s room, you can see reproductions that are not different from the actual paintings that make full use of digital technology.

  • Sotetsu zu

    Buson’s representative work from the Sanuki period, “Sotetsu zu (the Cycad)”, is a depiction of a sotetsu plant (the Cycad) in a garden. Since 1968, “Sotetsu zu (the Cycad)” has restored the black ink graffiti for the first time in 15 years.

  • Kanzan Jittoku zu

    In 2022, the face of “Kanzan” will be revived. Japan’s largest “Kanzan Jittoku zu (St. Kanzan and St. Jittoku)” covering all four sides of the fusuma.

  • Jurojin no zu

    “Jurojin no zu (Saint Jurojin)” depicts one of the seven deities of good fortune in a graceful, humorous and loose line.

  • Take no zu

    “Take no zu (the Bamboo)” exquisitely depicts bamboo leaves that are constantly moving somewhere on the screen.

In the garden that can be seen from “Yosa Buson’s room”, there are several cycads that became the model of “Sotetsu zu (the Cycad)”.It is said that this garden was built by Enshu Kobori, a master of the tea ceremony in the early Edo period who was also good at arts and crafts, architecture, and landscaping. The name of the garden is “Kuzure-ishi-no-niwa(Garden of Collapsed Stones)”.

Location / Access

4 minutes walk from JR Marugame Station, 5 minutes walk from Marugame Castle main gate.

Myohoji Temple is located between JR Marugame Station and Marugame Castle main gate.

Marugame Castle is one of the 12 surviving castle towers. Please visit Myohoji Temple along with a walk around Marugame Castle, which has been selected as one of Japan’s top 100 castles.