Mino Kokubun-ji, Provincial temple in Ogaki, Japan
Mino Kokubun-ji is a provincial Buddhist temple in the Aono district of Ogaki, Japan, with a roughly 10-foot-tall (about 3 m) wooden Yakushi Nyorai statue as its main object of worship. The grounds preserve several stone foundations from the original temple layout.
Emperor Shomu ordered this temple built in 741 as one of around 60 provincial temples established across Japan during the Nara period to spread Buddhist faith. The original buildings fell into ruin over the centuries, and the current temple was gradually rebuilt on the same site.
The grounds include a set of small pagodas that mark stops of the Shikoku pilgrimage route, so visitors can walk a shorter version of that long spiritual journey. Each stop corresponds to one of the original eighty-eight sacred sites, making the path meaningful even for those who cannot travel to Shikoku.
The Yakushi Nyorai statue is only open to the public on certain dates, so it is worth planning your visit around those days if seeing it is important to you. The rest of the grounds, including the stone foundations and pilgrimage pagodas, can be visited throughout the year.
Excavations near the temple uncovered old kiln sites where roof tiles were once fired for the original building. This discovery was key to the site being recognized as a National Historic Site of Japan.
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