Jindai-ji Temple, Buddhist temple in Jindaiji Motomachi, Japan.
Jindai-ji is a Buddhist temple in Jindaiji Motomachi with a main hall, bell tower, and several smaller shrines among old trees. Stone lanterns line the paths that wind through the compound and lead to a small pond with carp beside the central prayer hall.
Founded in 733 by the monk Mankō as a Hossō sect temple, Jindai-ji is Tokyo's second-oldest temple after Sensō-ji. It converted to the Tendai sect in 859. Fires in 1646 and 1865 destroyed most of its buildings, and the present main hall is a Taishō-era reconstruction.
The name comes from Jinja Daio, a water deity said to have protected the monk Xuanzang on his journey to India. The temple's spring water shaped local food: Jindaiji soba, a local specialty, used spring water for growing, kneading, boiling and bleaching the buckwheat, and water wheels ground the flour. A soba guardian Kannon memorial rite is held each year in mid-October.
The temple opens at 9:30 AM and closes at 4:00 PM, with buses reaching it from three nearby stations. Visitors can walk freely through the grounds, though some inner areas may close during ceremonies.
The temple bell cast in 1376 by a smith named Yamashiro no Kami Munemitsu is the third oldest in Tokyo; after cracking, it was replaced by a new bell on 15 August 2001 and the original now rests in the Shaka Hall.
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