Manshu-ji

The main hall (hondô) of Manshû-ji.

• Japanese': 満舟寺 (Manshuu-ji)

Manshû-ji is a Buddhist temple in Mitarai, Hiroshima prefecture, said to have been founded by Taira no Kiyomori when, caught in a storm on his way to Kyoto, he came ashore there. Images enshrined there include one of the bodhisattva Jizô associated with the curing of disease, and one of the 11-headed bodhisattva Kannon (possibly made by Gyôki).

While the official origin story (engi) of the temple traces the temple's origin to Taira no Kiyomori and the 12th century, reliable historical records also speak of a Kannon hall, bell tower, and head priest's residence (kuri) being built beginning in the 1720s, and the temple being officially recognized by the domain as a Shingon temple under the name Manshû-ji in 1751.

The temple grounds include the grave of haikai poet Kurita Chodô. A hengaku plaque hanging in the main hall of the temple was created by Kurita copying a work of calligraphy by Ryukyuan scholar-official Ryô Kôchi; the original work of calligraphy is also in the temple's collection.

The temple is also the location of a number of gravestones said to be among the oldest turtle-shaped gravestones in Japan that are not marking daimyô graves.

References

• Plaques at Ondo Tourist Cultural Center Uzushio おんど観光文化会館うずしお, Kure, Hiroshima pref.[1]
• Plaques on-site.[2][3]