Negoro-ji Temple

Overview

Negoro-ji (根来寺) is a Buddhist temple in the city of Iwade, in Wakayama Prefecture, in the Kansai region of Japan. It stands among the Katsuragi Mountains, a range whose peaks were long treated as sacred ground. The temple was founded in 1130, in the Heian period (794–1185), during the fifth year of the Daiji era (大治, Daiji). Its grounds hold both a tahōtō (多宝塔), a two-storeyed pagoda form, and a garden, the Negoro-ji Temple Garden.

Negoro-ji belongs to the Shingon (真言) school of Buddhism, and it is counted among the Shingon sect's eighteen Motoyama — the head temples of the school. It also appears on several pilgrimage routes: the En no Gyōja Reiseki Fudasho, the Kinki Thirty-six Fudoson Sacred Ground, and the Shinbutsu Reijō Junpai no Michi. Its grounds are listed among Japan's Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spots.

History

Negoro-ji was founded in 1130, the fifth year of the Daiji era, in the Heian period. The site lies in what is now Iwade, in the north of Wakayama Prefecture, tucked into the Katsuragi Mountains.

The temple's later history is bound up with warfare. It was the object of the Siege of Negoro-ji, a conflict that gives the place a second identity in historical records: the siege is referenced by the location itself, and the location is referenced by the siege. Negoro-ji was a fortified temple complex of considerable strength, and its destruction in that siege is the event for which it is most widely remembered outside Shingon circles.

In 2007, the temple grounds were designated a National Historic Site and a National Place of Scenic Beauty. Those designations recognise both the surviving architecture and the arrangement of the grounds within the mountain setting.

What Stands There Today

The most prominent structure is the tahōtō (多宝塔), a pagoda type whose name means "many-treasures pagoda". The tahōtō at Negoro-ji is named as a distinct component of the temple, alongside the Negoro-ji Temple Garden.

The garden is the second named feature of the grounds. Together with the pagoda it forms the core of what visitors see, and both sit within a landscape of mountain peaks that shaped the temple's religious function as much as its architecture.

The grounds are also known for their cherry blossoms, and are counted among Japan's Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spots. In spring the temple becomes a destination for hanami (花見), blossom viewing, in addition to its role as a place of worship and pilgrimage.

Negoro-ji's position on the pilgrimage routes — the En no Gyōja Reiseki Fudasho, the Kinki Thirty-six Fudoson Sacred Ground, and the Shinbutsu Reijō Junpai no Michi — means it is a stopping point for walkers following established circuits of sacred sites rather than an isolated monument.

The Name in Japanese

The temple's name is written 根来寺. It is read in kana as ねごろじ, and in romaji as Negoro-ji.

Broken down character by character:

• 根 — read ne in this name. The character means "root". It is the same 根 that appears in words to do with origins and foundations.
• 来 — read goro in this name. The character means "come" or "arrive". On its own it is most often read kuru as a verb, or rai in compounds such as 未来 (みらい, mirai, "the future").
• 寺 — read ji in this name. The character means "temple", specifically a Buddhist temple. It is one of the most common endings in Japanese temple names.

The reading of the first two characters together, Negoro, is not the ordinary reading either character would take alone. 根 alone would normally be read ne or kon; 来 alone would normally be read rai or kuru. The combination 根来 as Negoro is a place-name reading, fixed by local usage, and it is the name of the area in which the temple stands as well as of the temple itself.

The final 寺, read ji, is the standard suffix for a Buddhist temple. Note the distinction from 神社 (じんじゃ, jinja), a Shinto shrine: 寺 marks a Buddhist foundation, and Negoro-ji is a Buddhist temple of the Shingon school. When the same character begins a word rather than ending one, it is often read tera, as in 寺子屋 (てらこや, terakoya), the small schools of the pre-modern period.

For a learner, 根来寺 is a useful example of a name whose reading cannot be predicted from its parts. The characters supply the meaning — "root-come temple" — but the sound Negoro-ji has to be learned as a unit.

Visiting and Context

Negoro-ji sits in Iwade, Wakayama Prefecture, at coordinates roughly 34.29° north, 135.32° east, within the Katsuragi Mountains. The temple is a Shingon foundation and one of the school's eighteen head temples, so it functions as a living religious site and not only as a historic monument.

Its dual identity is worth keeping in mind. On one hand it is a Heian-period foundation of 1130, a place of pilgrimage on several established circuits, and a designated National Historic Site and National Place of Scenic Beauty as of 2007. On the other, it is the site of the Siege of Negoro-ji, the event that destroyed the fortified complex and fixed the temple in the military history of the region.

The grounds contain the tahōtō and the temple garden, and in spring the cherry blossoms draw visitors from across Kansai. For students of Japanese, the name itself — 根来寺, Negoro-ji — is a compact lesson in how place names resist the ordinary readings of their characters.