松應寺, Buddhist temple in Okazaki, Japan.
Shoji Temple (松應寺) is a Buddhist temple in Okazaki, Japan, connected to the neighboring Miyakoya shopping district by a covered wooden arcade walkway of about 130 feet (40 meters). The complex includes a main hall, a paved courtyard, and the wooden corridor that ties the sacred grounds to the street outside.
The temple was founded in 1560 by Tokugawa Ieyasu in memory of his father Matsudaira Hirotada, who was killed by retainers eleven years earlier. The founding came at a turning point in Japanese history, just before Ieyasu rose to become one of the most powerful figures the country had ever known.
The temple is the fifth stop on the Mikawa pilgrimage route linking 33 Kannon temples across the region, and pilgrims visit it as part of a longer spiritual journey through the area. On the third Saturday of each month, the grounds host a market where local vendors set up stalls and neighbors gather to shop and talk.
The temple is easy to reach on foot from central Okazaki and works well as a stop combined with the adjacent shopping street. If you plan to visit on the third Saturday of the month, expect the grounds to be livelier than usual because of the regular market.
A white wisteria on the grounds blooms only after the pink cherry blossoms have already faded, so spring arrives here in two separate waves rather than one. Visitors who come twice in the same season can see the site look completely different each time.
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