Rokudōchinnō-ji Temple, Buddhist temple in Higashiyama-ku, Japan.
Rokudōchinnō-ji is a Rinzai-sect temple of the Kennin-ji branch in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, at the entrance to the old Toribe cremation ground. Its single-storey main hall has dark brown timber walls, sliding panels and a grey tiled roof; white vertical panels with black writing hang across the front, and stone markers stand in the gravel yard before it. The grounds also hold a garden, a five-storey stone pagoda, a bell tower and two wells linked to Ono no Takamura.
Founded during the Enryaku era (782–805), the temple is attributed to Keijun, abbot of Daian-ji in Nara and teacher of Kūkai; other traditions name Kūkai or Ono no Takamura, and a 1002 Tō-ji document credits Yamashiro no Ōmi with founding it in 836. It stood at the entrance to Toribeno, the Heian-period cremation ground, called Rokudō no Tsuji. In 1364 the monk Monkai Ryōsō arrived from Kennin-ji and restored it, converting it to the Rinzai sect; it was briefly merged into Kennin-ji in the Meiji era and became independent in 1910.
The temple is known as Rokudō-san, and its name was long read "Chinkō-ji"; Edo-period gazetteers even wrote it with the character for Ono no Takamura's name. From 7 to 10 August, the Rokudō-mairi draws stalls selling kōyamaki, atago shikimi, boxwood, lotus and hemp stalks along the approach. Visitors write a deceased person's name on a wooden strip, pass it through incense smoke, then pour water over it before the stone Jizō.
The temple sits on Gojō-dōri street near Yamatoōji-agaru and is open to visitors every day. Information about ceremonies and artworks is available in several languages.
During the annual Obon festival in August, people ring the Mukae-gane bell to welcome ancestral spirits. This custom connects the world of the living with the realm of ancestors through the sound of the bell.
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