Renko-ji
- Japanese: 蓮光寺 (renkou-ji)
Renkô-ji is a Jôdo-shû temple in the city of Tosashimizu, in Kôchi prefecture. It is located on a hill overlooking Shimizu Harbor.
The temple is believed to have been built in the late Kamakura period, and the chief object of worship, a wooden statue of Amida Nyorai, is believed to date to the same time. The temple bell dates to 1534, when it was donated to the temple by a locally powerful clan, the Kakumi.
The Hamada family of village headmen are buried there, along with some number of Ryukyuan castaways who became shipwrecked in Tosashimizu harbor in 1705. They had departed Ryûkyû the previous year on a tribute mission, but got caught in a storm and castaway to Shimizu harbor in Tosa province. They were aided by village headman Hamada Goemon, but died before they were able to return to Ryûkyû, and so were buried alongside the Hamada family at Renkô-ji.
The temple was destroyed in the anti-Buddhist iconoclasm of the Meiji period, but was rebuilt and re-established afterwards.
References
- Watanabe Miki. "Nihon ni okeru Ryûkyû shiseki." (personal webpage).
