Shiramizu Amidadō
Shiramizu Amida-dō, is a chapel located within the Buddhist temple of Ganjō-ji in the city of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The Amida-dō is a National Treasure and the temple, with its paradise garden, has been designated an National Historic Site.
History
The temple of Ganjō-ji was built in 1160 by Princess Tokuhime, daughter of Fujiwara no Kiyohira of the Hiraizumi Fujiwara clan, as a memorial temple for her husband, Iwaki Norimichi. The temple was granted imperial status by Emperor Go-Toba, and was protected and patronized by successive of Iwakitaira Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate in the Edo period. The temple converted at some point from the Pure Land to the Shingon denomination and remains an active temple; however, the Pure Land Garden, including the pond, is now owned and managed by Iwaki City.The temple was closed to the public due to the damage caused by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, but restoration was completed in July 2012 and the temple reopened.
Buildings
- Amida-dō ; built in 1160. The building is a square structure with a thatched tented roof consisting of very thin layers of wood shingles. Inside, the walls were once covered with mural paintings, of which only a fragment remains. Along with Mōtsū-ji in Hiraizumi and a structure of Kōzō-ji in Kakuda, Miyagi, it is one of only three surviving structures of the Heian period in the Tōhoku region of Japan. The Amida-do is surrounded by ponds on all three sides: east, west, and south, and there is a worship path from the south.
Treasures
Inside the Amidadō are five statues:- Wooden Amida Nyōrai triad
- Wooden statue of Jikokuten
- Wooden statue of Tamonten