Myōhō-ji, Buddhist temple in Suma-ku, Japan.
Myōhō-ji is a Shingon Buddhist temple of the Kōyasan branch in the Bishamondake area of Myōhōji, Suma-ku, Kobe. Its formal mountain and temple name is Nyoi-zan Myōhō-ji, though it is commonly called Bishamon-zan Myōhō-ji. The grounds hold a goma hall and the Goshajinja shrine, founded by Gyōki as the temple's guardian shrine.
Founded in 738 by the monk Gyōki, Myōhō-ji was an imperial prayer temple with a seven-hall complex and 37 monks' quarters. In 1180 Taira no Kiyomori, during his Fukuhara capital plan, made it a protective sanctuary and donated 1,000 koku of temple land. In 1350–1351 Kō no Moronao's troops burned it down; it was rebuilt in 1697 and again in 1973.
The temple's name is often given as Bishamondzan Myōhō-ji, though its formal mountain name is Nyoi-zan. Its guardian shrine, Go-sha Jinja, was founded by Gyōki and honours five deities, including Ame-no-Minakanushi and Izanagi and Izanami. The wooden Bishamonten standing statue is a National Important Cultural Property, designated on 14 October 1940.
The temple stands in the Bishamonyama area of Myōhōji-chō, Suma-ku, Kobe, about a nine-minute walk east from Myōhōji Station on the Kobe Municipal Subway Seishin-Yamate Line. The grounds hold a goma hall and the Go-sha Shrine, founded by Gyōki as the temple's guardian shrine, where the deities include Amenominakanushi, Takamimusubi, Kamimusubi, Izanagi and Izanami.
The temple is commonly called Bishamondzan Myōhō-ji, but its formal mountain name and temple name are Nyoisan Myōhō-ji. The honzon is a wooden standing Bishamonten, designated an Important Cultural Property on 14 October 1940. A stone hōkyōintō pagoda dated the 23rd day of the second month of Ōan 3 (1370) was erected by the layman Jōshō and once stood on the road north to Kurumamura.
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