Daion-ji Temple Nagasaki

 

Continuing north along Teramachi from Daikoji Temple, the next big temple is Daionji.

It was founded in 1614 and belongs to the Jodo, or Pure Land Sect, founded by Honen, and the honzon is another Amida.

During the Edo Period, the temple was considered one of the Three Major Temples of Nagasaki. The priest who founded it, Denyo Sekitotsu, was another of the Five Nagasaki Monks.

The temple buildings survived the atomic bombing, but were destroyed later by arson. A small brick arch dates back to about 1868.

The Sanmon Gate houses statues of the Shitenno rather than Nio.

Other than the colorful Shitenno statues and a lovely weeping Plum tree in full bloom in mid February, there is not a lot to see. For the historically minded the cemetery has the grave of Yasuhide Matsudaira, the Nagasaki Magistrate who committed suicide to atone for allowing an English ship into Nagasaki in 1808.

The previous post in this series on day 60 of my Kyushu Pilgrimage was the neighboring Daikoji Temple.