#shomyoji

月と橋 Shomyoji Temple

Kanazawa Ward, Kanagawa, Japan

Shōmyō-ji (称名寺) is a temple in Kamakura about an hour and change of a trip from where I’m staying. I stumbled upon it quite by accident, as I was actually intending to visit a different temple of the same name in Yokohama last Sunday. As it happened, I plotted the course to this temple into Google maps without checking to verify whether I was on the right track, only realizing my error en route. I’m glad that this is how things came to pass, though, since I had a fun visit.

Shōmyō-ji stands in a wooded area about a 45 minute walk away from Ofuna Station (I walked back to the station from the temple because I didn’t have bus change, but you can also bus it from Ofuna). Throughout the temple complex are several images of, among other beings, Jizō Bosatsu (a bodhisattva; Sk: Ksitigarbha) and Fudō Myōō (a wisdom king/bright king; Sk: vidyaraja). There’s also an icon of Dainichi Nyorai (Mahavairocana), one of the cosmic Five Great Buddhas. Dainichi Nyorai reigns over the cardinal direction of the center.

I’ve been really busy and thus haven’t had too much time to follow up on the history of this temple yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it is a Shingon Buddhist temple.

When one visits this temple, they will see a map by the entrance showing two possible pedestrian routes, but one of them is closed off for now. The other leads to a long stairway to an enclosure that houses 36 Dōji and beyond them, the Dainichi Nyorai image. The statue stands past the area where visitors may walk, so I don’t have any good photos of it, but the fourth through seventh photos show the array of Dōji that stand before him.

Going back down to the base of the staircase, if one turns right, there is a cemetery and past that, a waterfall leading into a stream. There are several images of Fudō Myōō in that area (pictured in the last two photos), including a grouping enclosed in a caved area. It was a truly beautiful space - I wish my photos did it justice.

I was also excited that people who were visiting the temple spoke to me. Because this temple is not a high profile, famous place (to the best of my understanding), it is probably less common for foreigners to visit. They approached me to ask where I’m from, how I got there, why I decided to visit, etc., and were generally very nice to me, even though I was not on top of my game in terms of my speaking skills.