Seiken-ji

• Established: late 7th century
• Other Names: 巨鼇山 (Kogouzan)
• Japanese: 清見寺 (Seiken-ji; Kiyomi-dera)

Seiken-ji is a Rinzai Zen temple of the Myôshinji sect in Okitsu 興津 in Suruga province, just east of Sunpu, now part of Shizuoka City of Shizuoka prefecture. It dominates an important point on the Tokaido Highway, and so has been destroyed and rebuilt several times.

The temple is believed to have been originally founded in the late 7th century, as a temple associated with, and protecting, the barrier checkpoint at Kiyomi-ga-seki The temple was re-established as a Rinzai Zen temple in 1261, by Zen master Muden Shôzen. The temple was restored once again by Shogun Ashikaga Takauji in the 14th century.

The temple has been host to many well-known people. According to temple tradition, Tokugawa Ieyasu when he was a child accompanied his tutor Abbot Taigen Sessai 太原雪斎 on his visits to Seiken-ji. Other visitors can be documented. Toyotomi Hideyoshi stayed there while his headquarters were being finished for the siege of Odawara. He was impressed by the sound of the temple bell, and requisitioned it for use during the campaign. At the end of the Edo period, in 1862 the shogun Tokugawa Iemochi stayed there on his way to Kyoto, and seven years later Emperor Meiji stayed there on his way to the new capital of Tokyo.

There was a close connection between Seiken-ji and the Ryukyuan embassies to Edo. On his 1609 invasion of the Ryukyu Kingdom, Shimazu Iehisa of Satsuma province took hostage several members of the royal family. Thenext year he took them to Sunpu for an audience with Ieyasu, and then to Edo for an audience with the shogun Hidetada. However, shortly after leaving Sunpu, Crown Prince Shô Kô, younger brother to King Shô Nei, died and was buried in Seiken-ji. The Ryukyuan embassies to Edo customarily stopped to visit his grave during the remainder of the Edo period. There are records of stops in in 1710, 1714, 1749, 1764, 1791, 1806, 1830, and 1850. In 1790, Prince Ginowan Chôshô (also known as Shô Yô) erected a new gravestone. A framed piece of calligraphy by Ginowan Chôshô donated to the temple at that time hangs inside the temple's main hall (hondô), along with a number of similar plaques associated with Korean embassies to Edo.

. It is the site of the grave of a Ryukyuan Crown Prince who died in Sunpu in 1610, and the temple was visited by Ryukyuan embassies in 1710, 1714, 1749, 1764, 1791, 1806, 1830, and 1850.

Crown Prince Shô Kô, younger brother to King Shô Nei, died at Sunpu in 1610 while a hostage of Shimazu Iehisa. He was buried at Seikan-ji, and his grave became a customary stop made by the Ryukyuan embassies to Edo for the remainder of the Edo period. In 1790, Prince Ginowan Chôshô (also known as Shô Yô) erected a new gravestone. A framed piece of calligraphy by Ginowan Chôshô, also donated to the temple at that time, hangs inside the temple's main hall (hondô), along with a number of similar plaques associated with Korean embassies to Edo.

Other objects held by the temple and associated with Ryûkyû include a set of bronze lanterns, six scrolls of memorial writings prepared between 1710 and 1752, eight scrolls of memorial writings prepared between 1764 and 1850, an old sanshin (shamisen)today displayed in the zashiki (parlor) of the temple's main hall, and a number of tenmoku ceramics and lacquerwares today held in the temple's Treasure House.

Seiken-ji is probably best known to westerners through Oliver Statler's book Japanese Inn, which centers around an inn in Okitsu. Statler got much information about the temple directly from temple officials.

References

• "Seiken-ji." Digital Daijisen デジタル大辞泉. Shogakukan, Inc.
• Watanabe Miki. "Nihon ni okeru Ryûkyû shiseki." (personal website)

Statler, Oliver, Japanese Inn, Pyramid Books, 1962.

External Links

• http://seikenji.com/ The temple's web page, with photos of buidings, the garden, and art treasures.
• Seiken-ji on Google Maps.