| Tōeizan Kan'ei-ji Endon-in | |
|---|---|
 Kan'ei-ji's original five-storiedpagoda in Ueno | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Tendai |
| Location | |
| Location | Uenosakuragi 1-14-11, Taito-ku, Tokyo |
| Country | Japan |
 | |
| Architecture | |
| Founder | Tenkai,Tokugawa Iemitsu |
| Completed | 1625 |
| Website | |
| www | |
Tōeizan Kan'ei-ji Endon-in (東叡山寛永寺円頓院) (also spelled Kan'eiji or Kaneiji) is aTendaiBuddhist temple inTokyo,Japan, founded in 1625 during theKan'ei era byTenkai, in an attempt to emulate the powerful religious centerEnryaku-ji, inKyoto. The main object of worship isYakushirurikō Nyorai (薬師瑠璃光如来).[1]
It was named in a reference both to the Enryaku-ji's location atopMount Hiei (Tōeizan means "Mount Hiei of the East"), and also after the era during which it was erected, like Enryaku-ji (named after the Enryaku year period).[2] Because it was one of the twoTokugawabodaiji (funeral temple; the other wasZōjō-ji) and because it was destroyed in the closing days of the war that put an end to theTokugawa shogunate, it is inextricably linked to the Tokugawashōguns.
Once a great complex, it used to occupy the entire heights north and east ofShinobazu Pond and the plains whereUeno Station now stands.[3] It had immense wealth, power and prestige, and it once consisted of over 30 buildings. Of the 15 Tokugawashōguns, six are buried here.[3]
Many temple structures were destroyed in thegreat Meireki fire of 1657.[4] A new hall was constructed inside the enclosure of Kan'ei-ji in 1698.[5] The temple and its numerous annexes were almost completely destroyed during theBoshin War'sBattle of Ueno and never restored.[6] Much of the site where it once stood was confiscated and is now occupied byUeno Park.[3]
What is today the temple's main hall was taken fromKita-in inKawagoe (Saitama Prefecture) and transferred to the site of a former Kan'ei-ji subtemple. Kan'ei-ji's five-story pagoda (photo above) and theUeno Tōshō-gū shrine were amongst the gems of the old temple enclosure. Both stand undisturbed by the passage of years since the end of the Tokugawa shogunate.
The Shinobazu Pond itself and the Bentendō Temple which stands on its island used to be an integral part of Kan'ei-ji. Tenkai, likingLake Biwa, had Benten Island built in imitation of Chikubushima, and then the Bentendō on it.[7] At the time the island was accessible only by boat, but later a stone bridge was added on the east, making it possible to walk to it.[7] The Bentendō Temple was destroyed duringWorld War II, and the present one is a reconstruction.[8]
Tenkai wanted to create a powerful religious center and, to achieve that, he built Kan'ei-ji imitatingEnryaku-ji.[8] The temple was therefore erected north-east ofEdo Castle to ward off evil spirits that were believed to come from that unlucky direction.[8]
Tenkai's project enjoyed from the beginning the shogunate support, so much so thatTokugawa Hidetada in 1622 donated the land on which it was built.[1] At the time, on that land there were the suburban residences of threedaimyōs, (Tōdō Takatora of theTsu domain,Tsugaru Nobuhira of theHirosaki domain andHori Naoyori of theMurakami domain), but the land was expropriated and donated to Tenkai for the temple.[1] He was also given 50 thousand silverRyō and a building as a contribution.[1]
The chief abbot's residence, theHonbō, was built in 1625, which is considered the year of foundation of the temple. After that, severaldaimyōs contributed with the construction of other buildings.[8] The main hall, called as in Enryaku-ji's caseKonponchūdō, was finished only in 1697.[8]
In 1643, after Tenkai's death, disciple Kōkai took his place. His successor wasEmperor Go-Mizunoo's third son Shuchōho Shinnō.[1] From then on until the end of the shogunate, Kan'ei-ji's chief abbots were chosen among the Emperor's children or favorite nephews and called with the honorificRinnōjinomiya (輪王寺宮).[1]
With the favor of the Tokugawa the temple prospered but, at least in the first years since foundation, it was just the Tokugawa family temple, while the sole funeral temple of the Tokugawa was still Zōjō-ji, where the second shogunHidetada rests. His successorIemitsu sent his remains to Nikkō because theNikkō Tōshō-gū, mausoleum ofTokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the dynasty, was there; he however also built a mausoleum at Kan'ei'ji.[1] After that, the fourthshōgunTokugawa Ietsuna and the fifth Tokugawa Tsunayoshi were put to rest in Ueno, and Kan'ei-ji became a Tokugawa funeral temple like Zōjō-ji.[1] Zōjō-ji didn't like the change, but after the next shogun Tokugawa Ienobu's mausoleum was built on its land, the custom became to alternate the temples at each generation, and that lasted until the closing of the shogunate era. Excepted Ieyasu and Iemitsu (buried inNikkō) and last shogunYoshinobu (also known as Keiki, buried in nearbyYanaka Cemetery), all of the Tokugawashōguns are buried either at Zōjō-ji or Kan'ei-ji, six at one and six at the other. In what used to be the Kan'ei-ji cemetery near theTokyo National Museum are interredTokugawa Ietsuna,Tokugawa Tsunayoshi,Tokugawa Yoshimune,Tokugawa Ieharu,Tokugawa Ienari,Tokugawa Iesada and Iesada's wifeTenshō-in.[8] Ietsuna's and Tsunayoshi's mausoleums were destroyed in 1945. The cemetery is closed to the public, but can be seen from the street.
The last visit of a Tokugawa shogunate member was on the 8 August 1863 by Tenshō-in, for the memorial service of her husbandTokugawa Iesada.
In his bookHigh City, Low City JapanologistEdward Seidensticker describes the last days and the destruction of Kan'ei-ji.
The revolutionary forces had occupied most of Tokyo, and Edo Castle and the majority of the Tokugawa troops had already surrendered, however one band of shogunate soldiers barricaded itself in Ueno with the intention to resist.[6] About 2000 men strong, it was composed of members of theShōgitai, a military unit of former Tokugawa retainers.[8] They held the Kan'ei-ji's abbot in hostage, and maybe for this reason theSatsuma andChōshū revolutionaries didn't attack immediately.[6]
On July 4, 1868 (Meiji 1, 15th day of the 5th month),[9] the final attack came and from early morning artillery rounds fell from Hongo's heights on Ueno.[6] After a fierce battle, in the late afternoon the revolutionary forces broke through the defenses in the south at the Black Gate (theKuromon), near what is today Ueno Park's entrance.[6] There were altogether about 300 dead, mostly defenders.[6] Most of the artillery rounds had gone astray, causing fires in which the whole Kan'ei-ji and up to a thousand houses were destroyed.[6] The temple's abbot fled in disguise and left the city by boat.[6]
35°43′17″N139°46′28″E / 35.721432°N 139.774306°E /35.721432; 139.774306
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