Rinzaiji, Buddhist temple in Toyohashi, Japan.
Rinzaiji is a temple of the Rinzai sect's Tofuku-ji branch in the Higashida district of Toyohashi. Its main image is a seated Shakyamuni Buddha, and its grounds hold the mausolea of the Ogasawara daimyo family, who ruled the Yoshida domain; locals call it the 'Lord's Temple'. The present buildings were rebuilt after the 1945 Toyohashi air raid.
The temple began in 1645, when Ogasawara Tadatomo, lord of Kitsuki in Bungo, was transferred to the Mikawa Yoshida domain and moved his family temple Sōgenji there. His successor Naganori relocated it to its present site in 1664, renamed it Man'nenzan Rinzaiji and invited Torao Daishin as founder. It served as the Ogasawara family temple, called "Tonosama-dera" by townspeople, and was rebuilt after the Meiji persecution of Buddhism and the 1945 Toyohashi air raid.
The temple is the headquarters of the Sohen Yoshida school of tea ceremony, a branch of the Sohen school founded by Yamada Sohen, whom the first lord Tadatomo retained. The Sohen school descends from Sen Sotan's four disciples. The temple name comes from Linji Yixuan, founder of the Chinese Linji school. The family temple of the Ogasawara lords of Yoshida is called "Tonosama-dera" by residents.
Rinzaiji stands just north of the Higashida Sakagami stop on the Toyohashi Railway Azumada main line, so it can be reached by tram from Toyohashi station. The temple runs the Ekinichi kindergarten on its grounds, so weekdays are busier with children and staff. The present buildings date from the post-war reconstruction, and the temple is the headquarters of the Sōhen Yoshida school of tea ceremony.
The temple is known locally as "Tonosama-dera" (the lord's temple) because it holds the tombs of four Ogasawara daimyo, including Nagashige, who served as Kyoto shoshidai and rōjū. The Ogasawara family, lords of the Karatsu domain, used it as their family temple during their Mikawa-Yoshida years.
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