- Chōraku-ji
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Chōraku-ji
長楽寺
Chōraku-ji in Shimoda Information Mountain Name Daihozan (大浦山) Denomination Shingon Venerated Kannon Bosatsu Founded 1555 Address Shimoda-shi, Shizuoka Country 
JapanWebsite http://www.izu.co.jp/~p-boo/chorakuji.html Chōraku-ji (長楽寺) is a small Shingon sect Buddhist temple in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is noteworthy in that it was the location of the signing of the Treaty of Shimoda in 1855, which officially established diplomatic relations between Bakumatsu Japan and the Russian Empire.
History
Chōraku-ji was founded in 1555, but much of its subsequent history is uncertain.
The temple was commandeered by the Tokugawa shogunate for use as a conference hall during negotiations to end Japan’s national isolation policy. The Russian delegation under Vice-Admiral Euphimy Vasil'evich Putiatin, was trapped in Shimoda at the end of 1854 when a tsunami caused by the Ansei Tokai Earthquake destroyed their fleet. While a new ship was being constructed in nearby Heda, negotiations proceeded towards a treaty, and on February 7, 1855, the Russo-Japanese treaty of friendship was signed at Chōraku-ji by Putiatin as Russian Imperial Ambassador and Japanese representative Kawaji Toshiakira. The treaty comprised a trade agreement which opened three Japanese harbors (Hakodate, Nagasaki, and Shimoda) to Russia, one more than had been opened to the Americans. Furthermore, the treaty also partially defined the northern borders of Japan in the Kurile Islands with the Russo-Japanese border drawn between Etorofu and Uruppu.
References
- Statler, Oliver. Shimoda Story. Tuttle International (1971).
- Van Zandt, Howard F. Pioneer American Merchants in Japan. Lotus Press (1981).
External links
34°40′16″N 138°56′33″E / 34.671245°N 138.942431°ECoordinates: 34°40′16″N 138°56′33″E / 34.671245°N 138.942431°E
Buddhist temples in Japan Japanese Buddhist architecture Architectonic elements Mon (gates) Buildings Chinjusha · chōzuya/temizuya · -dō · main hall (kon-dō, hon-dō, butsuden) · kuri · kyōzō or kyō-dō · shoinTō or Buttō (pagodas) Styles Others A-un · kenSchools and objects of worship Major schools Zen schools Nanto rokushū Objects of worship Amida Nyōrai · Benzaiten · Dainichi Nyorai · Jizō · Kannon · Marishi-ten · Shaka Nyorai · Shitennō (Four Kings) · Twelve Heavenly Generals (Jūni Shinshō) · Yakushi NyoraiOther elements Implements kei (ritual gong) · mokugyōOthers bussokuseki · butsudan · Glossary of Japanese Buddhism · Japanese Buddhist pantheon · jingū-ji · miyadera · saisenbakoCategories:- Buddhist temples in Shizuoka Prefecture
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