The Phoenix Hall of Byodoin, completed in 1053. It is featured on the back of the ten yen coin. Uji, Kyoto, Japan.
On the way from Kyoto to Nara, about half way between the two cities, lies Uji. Uji is a modern city, founded in the 1950s, however the area has been a popular site for noble estates since one of the early emperors built a palace there in the 4th century. On one of those ancient estates is a temple called Byodoin, which is regarded as one of the most beautiful old temples in Japan. The temple’s Phoenix Hall is so beautiful and historically significant that it is featured on the Japanese ten yen coin and was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. It is a great place to visit, and its location half way between Kyoto and Nara makes it a convenient stop on the way from one to the other. So, to wrap up our series on Nara, let’s take a look at Byodoin.
The road from the station to Byodoin. This road is lined by tea shops, tea flavored sweets, and tea themed restaurants, as Uji is also famous for green tea. I wasn’t brave enough to try the green tea curry.
Byodoin was established in 1052 by Fujiwara no Yorimichi when he succeeded his father as Imperial regent. The Fujiwara estates in the area were so vast that, when Yorimichi inherited his father’s sprawling estate along with his title as Sessho (regent), he donated the land for the creation of a Buddhist temple. The following year, in 1053, the beautiful Phoenix Hall was completed with a large carving of Buddha in the center. Successive generations continued to add to the temple, building additional halls, a large pagoda, and a library for religious texts (sutras). In 1336, however, much of the temple complex was destroyed by one of Japan’s several civil wars, with only the Phoenix Hall and the Kannon Hall surviving to this day. Today, a modern museum has been built on the hill behind the Phoenix Hall and regular tours of the hall are offered to visitors. Byodoin also represents the high water mark of the powerful Fujiwara clan, one of the most powerful and longest lasting clans in Japanese history.
The walkway from the Phoenix hall to the Kannon Hall. The Kannon hall was rebuilt once in the Kamakura period, but it is still between 800 and 900 years old.
Many people think of the Emperor as the primary political power in Japan until after WWII. However, with only a couple of exceptions, the Japanese Emperor hasn’t wielded any real power for more than a millennium. Throughout Japanese history, people have competed, and even fought wars over, who would control the emperor. At the center of all this political maneuvering and infighting throughout the centuries have been the Fujiwaras. In the Nara and Heian periods, the Fujiwaras used political marriage, marrying their daughters off to princes and other members of the Imperial family, to increase their power and influence over the emperors. Eventually, every emperor had a Fujiwara wife and Fujiwara grandparents, who pressured him into appointing Fujiwara advisors and regents. By the 11th century, it wasn’t uncommon for sitting emperors to “retire” and become monks, abdicating in favor of their infant sons. Of course, a young child emperor would need a regent to rule on their behalf, and of course, that regent would be a Fujiwara. This is the role that Fujiwara no Yorimichi had just inherited when he founded Byodoin. However, in 1068, Yorimichi was unable to stop a non-Fujiwara Emperor from ascending the throne, and over the next hundred years, the Fujiwaras were gradually replaced by the growing Minamoto clan. It is the Minamoto clan that established the first Shogunate in Kamakura after the Fujiwara clan split and fought a short clan war. Even after political power shifted from Imperial regents to samurai military leaders, the Fujiwara clan continued to be influential. Several of the early Shoguns were Fujiwaras, though they were puppets controlled by the samurai Hojo clan. In the Sengoku period, Oda Nobunaga was descended from one of the Fujiwara families. The wife of the last Tokugawa Shogun was from the Fujiwara clan. The Showa Emperor, Hirohito, was the first Emperor to not have Fujiwara consorts. So the Fujiwaras are alive and well today, but Byodoin, built almost a thousand years ago, represents the peak of their power.
Byodoin’s Phoenix Hall.
The Phoenix Hall of Byodoin is one of the most beautiful buildings in all of Japan, and it has a lot of historical significant. It is easy to find, easy to visit, and there are several other important temples and sites nearby to see, if you have the time. Uji is also the site of the final chapters of the Tale of Genji, one of Japan’s first novels and since the 1300s Uji has been famous for its green tea. As such, if you are in the area, Byodoin is definitely worth a visit. Entry is 600 yen, with an additional 300 yen for a tour of the inside of the Phoenix Hall. You can find more information here: http://www.byodoin.or.jp/en/index.html
If you have any suggestions for places for us to write about, drop us a message in the comments below. Tell your friends!