Learn About Byodoji

History of Byodoji Temple

The history of Byodoji is not only the history of buildings changing over time. It is also the history of how prayer to Yakushi Nyorai was handed down. This page follows that path from the founding tradition through warfare, rebuilding, and the present day.
A full view of Byodoji Temple at the foot of the mountain

The Beginning of Byodoji

The lotus on the pine, the five-colored light, and the carving done with one cut and three bows still live on in the temple's founding tradition.

In the middle of the third month of 814, Kobo Daishi Kukai is said to have cast a golden lotus from the mountain above in order to test whether this land was the right place to establish a temple. The lotus caught on the branch of an old pine and shone in all directions.

In meditation, a lapis-lazuli Sanskrit seed syllable appeared within that light and took the form of Yakushi Nyorai. Kobo Daishi then carved Yakushi Nyorai, Nikko and Gakko Bosatsu, and the Twelve Divine Generals with the method known as 'one cut, three bows,' opening a full temple precinct here.

The temple name 'Byodoji' is said to come from Yakushi Nyorai's vow to heal the suffering of all beings equally. From its beginning, the temple's history is already the history of devotion to the Healing Buddha.

Words Preserved in Tradition

「我衆生の苦を醫し去ること平等不偏なるべきぞ」

I will remove the suffering of all beings equally, without favor or distinction.

Read the Byodoji Origin Record in modern Japanese

Temple Name, Mountain Name, and Cloister Name

The temple's names themselves preserve the sacred signs described in the origin record.

The names Byodoji, Hakusuizan, and Nikkoin are all tied to signs said to have appeared at the founding. Simply following those names gives a picture of what kind of temple Byodoji understood itself to be.

Temple Name

Byodoji

The name is said to come from Yakushi Nyorai's vow to heal the suffering of all beings equally. From the very beginning, faith in Yakushi Nyorai was at the center of Byodoji.

Mountain Name

Hakusuizan

This name comes from the tradition that Kobo Daishi struck the rock with his vajra and a sacred spring as white as milk flowed out. It preserves the link between this place of prayer and holy water.

Cloister Name

Nikkoin

It is said to come from the morning when sunlight shone across the water's surface and lit the grounds as Kobo Daishi drew the sacred water. Together with Hakusuizan, it makes light and water symbols of Byodoji's beginning.

The Path After the Founding

Following records, temple tradition, and place-memory through the turning points of Byodoji's history.

When the origin record is read alongside later documents, the history of Byodoji can be followed through three lines at once: founding faith, rebuilding effort, and forms of continuity.

  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.
    Kumano Nachi Taisha and Nachi Falls
    The landscape of Nachi Falls
    Nachi Falls and Kumano Nachi Taisha evoke the routes that Byodoji's clergy once traveled as Kumano guides.

  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.
    Woodblocks from Hakusui Seisha preserved at Byodoji
    A closer view of the Hakusui Seisha woodblocks at Byodoji
    These woodblocks, preserved at Byodoji, testify to the temple's work under the name Hakusui Seisha.

  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 2037.

Toward the Future

With the 1,200th memorial year of Kobo Daishi in 2037 in view, work continues to carry both sacred space and cultural heritage forward.

What Byodoji hopes to hand on is not only buildings. It is also prayer to Yakushi Nyorai, rituals such as goma and public openings, and the memories preserved in the region, so that the next generation can still place their hands together here.

Upcoming restoration plans

  • Repair of the outer sanctuary of the main hall
  • Conservation of the Hasso Daishi image, Kobo Daishi image, and the Ten Great Disciples
  • Restoration of the deities in the Juo Hall
  • Completion of repairs to the Daishi Hall
  • Construction of a wooden hokyo-in-to pagoda

About support

The restoration work planned toward 2037 is not only about preserving the past. It is about protecting a place where prayer can continue into the future. Support directly sustains that continuity.

Offer support for restoration work

To protect the halls and cultural treasures that exist today is also to place the history of Byodoji itself into the hands of the future.

Gassho

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