Renge-in

This article is about the temple in Okinawa. For the Renge-in in Kyoto, see Sanjûsangendô.

• Other Names: 岩頂山万松院 (ganchouzan banshou-in), 妙法山 (Myouhou-zan)
• Japanese: 蓮華院 (Renge-in)

Renge-in was a Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple in Shuri, the royal capital of the Ryûkyû Kingdom. A branch temple of the royal temple of Tennô-ji, it is believed to have been established in the late 16th or early 17th century.

Though originally known as Ganchô-zan Banshô-in, it was moved onto a peninsula in the Ringumui (蓮小堀, Little Lotus Pond) in the area in the mid-18th century, and came to be known as Myôhô-zan Renge-in. The pond was built in the early 15th century under King Shô Hashi, during construction work on Shuri castle. It was about 2,000 tsubo in size, and the peninsula was about 800 tsubo.

The temple was moved to Itoman in 1907, and the site made a private home. When the University of the Ryukyus was being constructed on the site of Shuri castle in 1958, construction work recreated the pond, and built a bus terminal, public library, and community center which form the core of the Shuri Tônokura neighborhood today. A different temple called Banshô-in stands on the site today.

References

• Plaques on-site at the original Shuri location of the temple.