Asuka-dera

nihongo|Asuka-dera|飛鳥寺|, also known as nihongo|Hōkō-ji|法興寺|, was a temple in Asuka in what is today Nara Prefecture dating from the 6th century. The original structure was completed in 596 under the orders of Soga no Umako. According to the "Nihongi" (and as described in the Empress Suiko section of "Fusō-ryakuki", which was compiled by the monk Kōen during the early thirteenth century).

When relics of Buddha were deposited inside the foundation stone under the pillar of a pagoda at Hōkō-ji (January 15, 593), the event was witnessed by Great Minister Soga Umako together with a hundred people who had had appeared wearing Paekche clothes. Buddhism was very new to Japan at the time, and so the first two abbots of the temple were Koreans.
* [http://www.asukanet.gr.jp/asukahome/ASUKA2/ASUKATERA/asukadera.html -- see Asuka Historical Museum website]
* [http://www.xs4all.nl/~daikoku/junrei/reijo/10-ban.htm -- see Asuka-dera in context of other Buddhist temples]

Gango-ji in Nara

The nihongo|Hōkō-ji|法興寺|, also known as nihongo|Asuka-dera|飛鳥寺|, in Nara in what is today Nara Prefecture is known as Japan's first Buddhist temple.

In 718, the building was removed from its original site in Asuka to two new locations in Nara.

The original temple was now split into two: one authentic Gango-ji in the city's Chuin-cho area, and another authentic Gangoji in the Shibanoshin-ya-cho area. The Chuin-cho Gango-ji is a World Heritage site and is notable for its Hondo (main hall) and Zenshitsu (zen room).
* [http://www.jal.com/world/en/guidetojapan/world_heritage/nara/see/index08.html -- see Gango-ji as world heritage site (JAL)]
* [http://www.nara.accu.or.jp/english/newsletter/news5/p5.html -- see Gango-ji as world heritage site (UNESCO)]
* [http://www.japanvisitor.com/index.php?cID=357&pID=299 -- see Gango-ji in context of Nara tourism]

The "Man'yōshū" includes a poem attributed to a monk of Gango-ji. This poet laments that, having attained enlightenment, his greater understanding remains unnoticed by others in the streets of Nara. His poem may perhaps bemoan his undervalued condition -- and yet, in a modest way, his words transport contemporary readers momentarily back to share his quiet, 8th century perspective:

:::A White gem unknown of men --::: Be it so if no one knows!:::Since I myself know its worth:::Although no other --:::Be it so if no one knows!:::: -- A monk of the Gango-ji Temple [Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai. (1969). "The Manyōshū," p. 237.]

Isshi incident

A significant event in Japanese Imperial history played out in the courtyard of this temple in 645. In that year -- in the 4th year of nihongo|Kōgyoku-tennō's reign|皇極天皇4年| |, the power of the Soga clan was over-thrown. The Empress's son and heir to the throne, Prince Naka no Ōe assassinated Soga no Iruka, the son of Chief Minister of State Soga no Emishi, whose suicide followed soon after. The violence, its sequelae and consequences have come to be known as the "Isshi Incident".

The violence actually unfolded in Kōgyoku's presence. The Empress responded to this shock by determining to renounce the throne. Japanese society during the Asuka period was sensitive to issues of "pollution," both spiritual and personal. Deaths -- especially a violent killing in close physical proximity to the Empress was considered to have been amongst the worst possible acts of pollution -- an event so stunning that it would have warranted days of seclusion in an uncertain process attempting to redress what would have been construed as a kind of profanity.

Although Kōgyoku wanted to abdicate immediately in favor of her eldest son, Naka no Ōe insisted that throne should pass instead to his younger brother, Karu-shinnō, who also declined to accept the succession ("senso"). [Aston, William. (2005). "Nihongi", p. 195-196; Brown, Delmer "et al". (1979). "Gukanshō", p. 266; Varley, H. Paul. "Jinnō Shōtōki". p. 44.] A distinct act of "senso" is unrecognized prior to Naka no Ōe's refusal of the throne. [Varley, p. 44.]

Naka no Ōe unexpectedly resolved the impasse by declaring his intention to renounce any claim to the throne by taking the tonsure of a Buddhist monk. That same day -- traditionally said to be Tuesday, July 12, 645, [ [http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/geschichte-japans/nengo_calc.htm Tsuchihashi conversion] : 皇極四年六月十四日] Naka no Ōe shaved off his hair at Hōkō-ji in the open air between the Hall of Buddha and the pagoda. [Aston, pp. 195-196.] At this point, Kōgyoku did abdicate in favor of her second son who shortly thereafter acceded to the throne as Emperor Kōtoku (645-654). [Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). "Annales des empereurs du japon", pp. 47-48.]

Eventually, Naka no Ōe would come to abandon his religious vows. He would take the throne as Emperor Tenji (661-672). [Titsingh, p. 54.]

References

* Aston, William G. (2005). "Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697." Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company. ISBN 0-804-83674-4
* Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). [ Jien, c. 1220] , "Gukanshō (The Future and the Past, a translation and study of the Gukanshō, an interpretative history of Japan written in 1219)." Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03460-0
* Shimura, Izuru and Izumu Shinmura. (1998). "Kōjien", 5th edition. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. 10-ISBN 4-000-80111-2; 13-ISBN 978-4-000-80111-9 (cloth)
* Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652] , "Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon, tr. par M. Isaac Titsingh avec l'aide de plusieurs interprètes attachés au comptoir hollandais de Nangasaki; ouvrage re., complété et cor. sur l'original japonais-chinois, accompagné de notes et précédé d'un Aperçu d'histoire mythologique du Japon, par M. J. Klaproth." Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. [http://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&dq=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran ...Click link for digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French)]
* Varley, H. Paul , ed. (1980). [ Kitabatake Chikafusa, 1359] , "Jinnō Shōtōki ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley)." New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04940-4