- Other Names: 橋爪堂 (hashizume-dou)
- Japanese: 宝樹寺 (houju-ji)
Hôju-ji is a temple of the Nishiyama Zenrin branch of the Pure Land sect of Buddhism, located in Fushimi, Kyoto.
In earlier times, the temple was also known as Hashizume-dô (Temple at the End of the Bridge) because of the bridge that once stood to the north, named Ichi-no-bashi.
The principal images in the main hall are a standing statue of the Buddhist divinity Amida Nyorai and a seated statue of Yakushi Nyorai. The stump of a pine tree known as Tokiwa Gozen Yukiyoke no matsu can be seen in the ground. It is said that Tokiwa Gozen, the mother of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, took shelter from the snow under the aging pine while fleeing to Nara during the Heiji Disturbance some 800 years ago.
References
- Plaques on-site.