History of Byodoji Temple

Founding tradition

The Beginning of Byodoji

The Byodoji Yuraiki tells of a golden lotus caught in an ancient pine, Yakushi Nyorai appearing within lapis-blue light, and the vow from which the temple received its name.

Read the Byodoji Origin Record in modern Japanese

Origins preserved in the names

Temple, Mountain, and Cloister Names

Byodoji has the temple name Byodoji, the mountain name Hakusuizan, and the cloister name Nikkoin. Here we explain these names and the tradition behind Nikkoin recorded in the Byodoji Yuraiki.

Timeline

The Path After the Founding

We begin with the temple’s founding tradition, then trace later turning points through documents and records preserved at Byodoji.

1. 814

   Foundation by Kobo Daishi

   Byodoji places its beginning in the temple tradition that Kobo Daishi Kukai carved Yakushi Nyorai here and opened a temple complex of seven halls.

   • A golden lotus thrown from the mountain is said to have caught in an ancient pine and shone in every direction as a sacred sign of the founding.
   • A lapis-lazuli seed syllable appeared in meditation and took the form of Yakushi Nyorai, after which Kobo Daishi carved Yakushi Nyorai, Nikko and Gakko Bosatsu, and the Twelve Divine Generals with one cut and three bows.
   • The name 'Byodoji' is said to come from Yakushi Nyorai's vow to heal the suffering of all beings equally.

   From the beginning, Byodoji was already understood as a temple of devotion to the Healing Buddha.

2. Nanboku-cho period

   Kumano Faith and Regional Records

   Byodoji served as part of a wider devotional world, guiding people as a Kumano sendatsu.

   • Documents of Kumano Nachi Taisha record that its priest served as a Kumano sendatsu and led pilgrimages to Kumano.
   • At Omiya Hachiman Shrine in Nobuno, north of Arai, a six-hundred-volume Daihannya copy from this period is still preserved.

   

   

3. Age of warfare

   The temple escaped destruction, but the mountain precinct declined

   Conflict from the late Muromachi into the Sengoku period had a major effect on the shape of Byodoji.

   • In 1577, fighting between Hosokawa Saneyuki and Miyoshi Nagaharu reached this area.
   • Temple tradition says that when Chosokabe's forces passed the temple gate, a goma rite for Fudo Myoo was underway, and the soldiers dismounted, bowed, and passed on.
   • Place names such as Dodoko, Gomadani, Togamine, and Hasuike still preserve the memory of the old precinct.
   • The site said to have held the former main hall is now within the grounds of Yasaka Shrine in the Shigetomo district of Shinno.

4. Early Edo period (ca. 1680-1770)

   Rebuilding led by Shoshun Ajari and others

   In the Edo period, work began to restore the ruined precinct and shape the basic form of the present temple.

   • Shoshun Ajari and others from Nishiyama Koryuji in present-day Ehime advanced the rebuilding.
   • The bell tower gate, main hall, and Yakushi hall were successively erected, restoring the temple's central spaces.
   • Much of today's Byodoji landscape grows out of this rebuilding phase.

   The structure rebuilt as the Yakushi Hall is today's main hall.

5. Late Edo period (1770-1820)

   A peak age of goma practice and printing

   With the rebuilt precinct as its stage, the temple expanded both as a place of prayer and as a center of cultural production.

   • A goma hall was built beside the Daishi Hall, and one-thousand-day goma practice, ryusui kanjo, and openings of the principal image were held with great vigor.
   • Under the name Hakusui Seisha, the temple produced woodblocks and published guidebooks for the Shikoku pilgrimage.
   • The public opening of Yakushi Nyorai was revived, spreading devotion to Byodoji more widely as a temple of protection from misfortune.

   

   

6. Bunsei to the late shogunate (1820-1860)

   Rebuilding the Daishi Hall and the Ten Great Disciples

   As halls lost to fire were rebuilt, the temple once again formed spaces that embodied its devotional identity.

   • The Daishi Hall and goma hall, lost in fire, were rebuilt, and the Daishi Hall was completed in 1824.
   • The Daishi Hall houses wooden images of Kobo Daishi's Ten Great Disciples, a rare surviving set in Japan.
   • Beautiful ceiling paintings from that era also remain.

7. Meiji period (1860-1900)

   Seiyuken and local improvement

   Even in the modern period, Byodoji actively undertook projects tied to the life of the surrounding community.

   • A 'New Shikoku 88 Sacred Sites' route was established on the mountain behind the temple.
   • Chief priest Seiyuken promoted many undertakings, including the repair of Byodoji Bridge and the rebuilding of the Juo Hall.

8. Modern era (1907-1969)

   The age of Taniguchi Shinryo and postwar recovery

   This was an era when nurturing the next generation of faith and rebuilding the temple advanced side by side.

   • Dr. Frederick Starr became the first foreign pilgrim known to have visited Byodoji.
   • The 'legend of the hakoguruma' continued to be told and left a deep impression on many visitors.
   • After wartime devastation, major restoration proceeded, including the rebuilding of the main gate and renewal of the bell tower.
   • While simultaneously serving seven temples, the priest also worked for the development of the Shingon community and regional Buddhism.

   Because of his character, local people lovingly called him 'Inge-san,' and he is still remembered with affection.

9. Contemporary era (1975-present)

   More pilgrims and the expansion of online ministry

   As the age of pilgrimage changed, Byodoji kept local prayer alive while extending that place of devotion into online space.

   • In the time of Honorary Chief Priest Taniguchi Koryo, pilgrim numbers grew greatly, and the 'Heisei major repair' renewed the Buddha hall, nokyo office, restrooms, and more.
   • The goma hall and kuri were rebuilt, the inner sanctuary of the main hall was restored and opened in 2015, and the first-service rite of the principal image was revived in 2016.
   • During the COVID period, the temple began a 24-hour livestream and established an online form of connection to faith.

   Repairs and transmission continue toward the 1,200th memorial year of Kobo Daishi's entering eternal meditation in 2034.