Gokoku-ji

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gokoku-ji 護国寺

Honden (Main Hall)
Information
Denomination	Shingon Buzan-ha
Founded	1681
Founder(s)	Keishō-in, Ryōkei
Address	5-40-1 Ōtsuka, Bunkyō, Tokyo
Country	Japan
Website	Gokoku-ji homepage homepage
Portal:Buddhism

For the temple of the same name in Naha, Okinawa, see Gokoku-ji (Okinawa).

Gokoku-ji (護国寺^?) is a Shingon Buddhist temple in Tokyo's Bunkyō. It was established by the mother of the Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi.

In 1873, Emperor Meiji declared Gokoku-ji the Imperial mausoleum and several of his children are buried there, as well as Emperor Meiji himself. It remains the Imperial mausoleum today.

Gokoku-ji is also famous as the central temple that oversees the practice of Japanese tea ceremony in all the country's temples.

[edit] Famous People Buried

Sanjō Sanetomi (1837–1891), the last Daijō Daijin.
Akiyoshi Yamada (1844–1892), a Minister of Justice and Lieutenant General in the Imperial Japanese Army, and the founder of Nihon Law School (current Nihon University) and Kokugakuin (current Kokugakuin University).
Josiah Conder (1852–1920), a British architect and oyatoi gaikokujin.
Ōkuma Shigenobu (1838–1922), the 8th (1898) and 17th (1914–1916) Prime Minister of Japan.
Yamagata Aritomo (1838–1922), Field Marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 3rd (1889–1891) and 9th (1898–1900) Prime Minister of Japan.
Okura Kihachiro (1837–1928), an entrepreneur.
Dan Takuma (1858–1932), a former Director-General of Mitsui (Mitsui Group).
Seiji Noma (1878–1938), the founder of Kodansha.
Takashi Masuda (1848–1938), the founder of Mitsui & Co. (Mitsui Bussan) and Chugai-Bukka-Sinpo (current Nihon Keizai Shimbun), and also known as a tea master.
Shigeaki Ikeda (1867–1950), a politician and former governor of the Bank of Japan.
Tempu Nakamura (1876–1968), a martial artist and preacher of yoga to Japan.
Masutatsu Ōyama (1923–1994), a karate master and the founder of Kyokushin kaikan.
Ikuma Dan (1924–2001), a composer. A grandson of Dan Takuma.

[edit] See also

For an explanation of terms concerning Japanese Buddhism, Japanese Buddhist art, and Japanese Buddhist temple architecture, see the Glossary of Japanese Buddhism.