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Kōzan-ji 高山寺
Path to the Golden Hall
Religion
Affiliation	Shingon Buddhism
Deity	Shaka Nyorai (Śākyamuni)
Location
Location	8 Umegahata Toganō-chō,Ukyō-ku,Kyoto,Kyoto Prefecture
Country	Japan
Architecture
Founder	Emperor Kōnin
Completed	774
Website
http://www.kosanji.com/

Kōzan-ji (高山寺), officiallyToganōsan Kōsan-ji (栂尾山高山寺), is aBuddhist temple of the Omuro sect ofShingon Buddhism in Umegahata Toganōchō,Ukyō Ward,Kyoto, Japan. Kōzan-ji is also known as Kōsan-ji and Toganō-dera. The temple was founded by the Shingon scholar and monkMyōe (1173–1232) and is renowned for its numerous national treasures and important cultural properties.^[1] TheChōjū-jinbutsu-giga, a group of ink paintings from the 12th and 13th centuries, are among the most important treasures of Kōzan-ji.^[2] The temple celebrates Biyakkōshin, Zenmyōshin and Kasuga Myōjin, as well as the temple's tutelary Shintō deity. In 1994, it was registered as part of theUNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto".^[2]

Togano, located deep in the mountains behindJingo-ji temple, which are famous for their autumn foliage, is considered an ideal location for mountain asceticism, and there have long been many small temples in this location. In addition to Kosan-ji, there have been other temples in the area, such as Toganoo-ji (度賀尾寺) and Toganoo-bō (都賀尾坊). According to legend, these were said to have been established by the imperial orders ofEmperor Kōnin in 774, however, the accuracy of these claims is not clear.

In 1206,Myōe, a Kegon Buddhist priest who had been serving at nearby Jingo-ji, was granted the land to construct a temple byEmperor Go-Toba. He selected the name Hiidetemazukousanwoterasuyama-no-tera (日出先照高山之寺). The temple's name was taken from a line in theAvatamsaka sutra: "When the sun appears, it first casts its light upon the highest mountain." (日、出でて、まず高き山を照らす,hi, idete, mazu takakiyama wo terasu).

The temple has been destroyed numerous times by fire and war. The oldest extant building is Sekisui-in (石水院), which dates from theKamakura period (1185–1333).

Jingo-ji houses a diagram of Kōzan-ji that was drawn in 1230, some 20 years after it was constructed. The diagram is registered as an important cultural property, because it shows the original layout of the temple. From the diagram, we know that Kōzan-ji originally consisted of a large gate, a main hall, a three-storied pagoda, a hall dedicated toAmitabha, a hall dedicated to Lohan^{[clarification needed]}, a bell tower, a scripture hall, and aShinto shrine dedicated to the tutelary deity of the area. However, all of these buildings have since been destroyed, except for the scripture hall, which is now known as Sekisui-in.

In addition to Sekisui-in, today's Kōzan-ji also contains a main hall (originally part ofNinna-ji, relocated to Kōzan-ji) and a hall dedicated to the founding of the temple, which houses an important carved wooden bust of Myōe. Both of these buildings, however, are modern reconstructions.

The temple possesses numerousNational Treasures andImportant Cultural Properties, however, the majority of them are currently on loan to national museums in Kyoto and Tokyo.

• Sekisui-in – Built in the Kamakura period. Irimoyazukuri style, with a gabled, hipped, shingled roof
• Chōjū-giga
• Kegon-shū Soshi Eden (華厳宗祖師絵伝) – created in the Kamakura period, this picture scroll portrays the lives of Korean Kegon foundersUisang andWonhyo.
• Myōe Shōnin-zō (明恵上人像) – A portrait of Myōe also known as Jujō Zazen-zō (樹上座禅像) and created during the Kamakura period. In contrast to the standard image of a Buddhist monk, this picture features a tiny Myōe surrounded by mountains.
• Butsugen Butsumo-zō (仏眼仏母像) – A portrait created in the Kamakura period at the end of the 12th century
• Yupian (玉篇,gyokuhen) – aTang period copy of aChinese dictionary created during theLiang dynasty. This is the oldest Chinese character dictionary in Japan.
• Tenrei Banshō Meigi (篆隷万象名義) – valued as the only remaining copy of an old kanji dictionary compiled byKūkai. It was copied in 1114.
• Meihō-ki (冥報記) – A Tang period manuscript of Buddhist tales. Now disappeared from China, this is the oldest extant copy of this work.

A large number of buildings, picture scrolls, carvings, furnishings and old writings have been registered as important cultural properties. The most significant among these include:

• Founders Hall (Kaizandō)
• A lacquered wooden statue of Bhaisajyaguru in seated posture created towards the end of the Nara period. Originally the center of asanzonzō (a trio of Buddhist statues with the primary image in the center and flanked by two attendants), the attendant images were removed during the Meiji period. The image ofSuryaprabha now rests in theTokyo National Museum, and the image of theChandraprabha in the university museum of theTokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.
• A wooden statue of Myoe in sitting posture created in the Kamakura period and located in the hall dedicated to the founding of the temple
• A pair of wooden deer statues created in the Kamakura period. These statues, of a buck and a doe, were uniquely constructed to look likekomainu, the lion statues that guard the entrance to a Shinto shrine. Deer are messengers of Kasuga Myōjin, the temple god, and as such, it is believed that these statues were placed in front of Kasuga Myōjin's altar.
• A statue of Byakkoshin in standing posture, constructed in the early Kamakura period. As the name indicates, the statue is painted white in its entirety—from its clothes to the pedestal. This is said to represent the snow of the Himalayas.
• A wooden statue of Zenmyōshin constructed in the earlyKamakura period. Much of the vivid paint still remains, and this statue, along with Biyakkō-shin, is said to be the work of famed Buddhist sculptorTankei.
• The Kōzan-ji document archive, which contains thousands of scriptures and records, some of which date back to the Heian period
• Kōben Yume-no-Ki (高弁夢記) – a record of Myōe's dreams from 1196 to 1223. His dreams are said to have exerted a great deal of influence on his religious thinking.

• Jingo-ji
• Kōsan-ji
• List of National Treasures of Japan (temples)
• List of National Treasures of Japan (paintings)
• List of National Treasures of Japan (writings)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toKōzan-ji (Kyoto).

• Official website(in Japanese)
• Kyoto Prefectural Tourism Guide for Kōzan-ji

35°03′37″N135°40′42″E / 35.06028°N 135.67833°E /35.06028; 135.67833

• Buddhist temples in Kyoto
• World Heritage Sites in Japan
• National Treasures of Japan
• Important Cultural Properties of Japan
• Historic Sites of Japan
• 8th-century establishments in Japan
• 774 establishments
• Religious buildings and structures completed in the 770s

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