Kan’ei-ji Temple

Overview

Kan'ei-ji Temple (寛永寺, かんえいじ) is a Tendai Buddhist temple in the Ueno-Sakuragi district of Tokyo. It was founded in 1625 during the Kan'ei era by the monk Tenkai, who intended it to emulate Enryaku-ji, the powerful Tendai religious center in Kyoto. The temple's main object of worship is Yakushirurikō Nyorai (薬師瑠璃光如来), the Medicine Buddha.

The temple was one of the two Tokugawa bodaiji (菩提寺), or funeral temples, the other being Zōjō-ji. Six of the fifteen Tokugawa shōguns are buried at Kan'ei-ji. Because of this connection and because the temple was destroyed in the war that ended the Tokugawa shogunate, its history is inseparable from that of the shōguns themselves.

History

Tenkai founded Kan'ei-ji in 1625, the second year of the Kan'ei era. The temple was built on the heights north and east of Shinobazu Pond, on land that once extended across the plains where Ueno Station now stands. At its height, the complex consisted of over thirty buildings and commanded immense wealth, power, and prestige.

The great Meireki fire of 1657 destroyed many of the temple's structures. A new hall was constructed inside the Kan'ei-ji enclosure in 1698. The temple continued to function as a major religious and political institution through the Edo period (1603–1868).

During the Boshin War, the Battle of Ueno brought destruction to the temple. The battle, fought in 1868 in the closing days of the Tokugawa shogunate, left Kan'ei-ji and its numerous annexes almost completely destroyed. The temple was never restored to its former scale. Much of the land where it once stood was confiscated and is now occupied by Ueno Park.

What Stands There Today

The temple's current main hall was not originally part of Kan'ei-ji. It was taken from Kita-in, a temple in Kawagoe in Saitama Prefecture, and transferred to the site of a former Kan'ei-ji subtemple. This hall now serves as the main hall of the modern temple.

Two structures from the old temple enclosure survive intact from the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. The five-story pagoda and the Ueno Tōshō-gū shrine both stand undisturbed by the passage of years. The pagoda is one of the gems of the original complex.

Shinobazu Pond and the Bentendō Temple on its island were once integral parts of Kan'ei-ji. Tenkai, who admired Lake Biwa, had Benten Island built in imitation of Chikubushima, an island in that lake, and then constructed the Bentendō on it. At the time, the island was accessible only by boat, but a stone bridge was later added on the east side, making it possible to walk across. The Bentendō Temple was destroyed during World War II, and the present structure is a reconstruction.

The temple's parts include the Gokoku-in Temple, the Shinobazu-no-ike Benten-dō, the Jōken-in Mausoleum, the Ueno Daibutsu, the Bell of Time, and the Genyū-in Mausoleum.

The Name in Japanese

The full formal name of the temple is Tōeizan Kan'ei-ji Endon-in (東叡山寛永寺円頓院). The common name is 寛永寺.

• 寛永寺 (かんえいじ, Kan'ei-ji)

The name breaks down as follows:

• 寛 (かん, kan) — "lenient" or "generous." This is the first character of the era name Kan'ei.
• 永 (えい, ei) — "eternal" or "long-lasting." This is the second character of the era name Kan'ei.
• 寺 (じ, ji) — "temple." This is the standard suffix for Buddhist temples in Japanese.

The temple was named after the Kan'ei era (寛永), the period during which it was erected. This mirrors the naming of Enryaku-ji, which was named after the Enryaku era. The mountain name Tōeizan (東叡山) means "Mount Hiei of the East," a reference to Enryaku-ji's location atop Mount Hiei in Kyoto. The name thus ties the temple to both its era and its Kyoto model.

Visiting and Context

Kan'ei-ji is located in Ueno-Sakuragi, within the area now largely occupied by Ueno Park. The temple's coordinates place it at 35.7218990, 139.7747050. Visitors to Ueno Park can see the surviving pagoda and the Ueno Tōshō-gū shrine, both of which date from the old temple enclosure.

The temple's history is bound up with the rise and fall of the Tokugawa shogunate. Founded in 1625 as a deliberate imitation of Enryaku-ji, it grew into a powerful institution that served as a funeral temple for the shōguns. Its destruction in the Battle of Ueno in 1868 marked the end of that era. The confiscation of its land for Ueno Park transformed the site from a religious complex into a public space, but the surviving structures and the reconstructed Bentendō still mark the outlines of the original temple grounds.