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 in Shizuoka City (formerly known as Sunpu), of the Myôshinji sect. 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.
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[1] 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.
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 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.
References
- "Seiken-ji." Digital Daijisen デジタル大辞泉. Shogakukan, Inc.
- Watanabe Miki. "Nihon ni okeru Ryûkyû shiseki." (personal website)
- ↑ The "Seiken" of the temple's name (清見) is an alternate reading of the characters for "Kiyomi" in Kiyomi-ga-seki.
