Shiramizu Amida-dō, Buddhist temple in Iwaki, Japan
Shiramizu Amidadō is a single-story Buddhist hall in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, built in 1160 in the Wayō style. Its square plan has three bays on each side and a steep pyramidal roof of thin wood shingles topped by a small round finial. The dark wooden facade has lattice panels and a central opening, with a row of colored cloth banners hanging below the eaves.
Princess Tokuhime commissioned the complex in 1160 as a memorial for her late husband Iwaki Norimichi. Emperor Go-Toba later recognized the structure as a significant religious monument.
The name Amida-dō comes from Amida Nyōrai, the central statue on the altar, flanked by Kannon and Seishi and accompanied by Jikokuten and Tamonten. The hall was built as part of Ganjō-ji, founded by Tokuhime, and later became an imperial prayer temple under Emperor Go-Toba. The temple belongs to the Shingon Chizan school, while the pond garden is owned by Iwaki City.
The hall stands on a central island reached by a worship path from the south, across a bridge over the pond; the precinct cannot be entered on the fourth Wednesday of each month (in December, the second Wednesday and Thursday). By train it is a five-minute drive from Uchigo Station on the Joban Line, and the Shin-Joban Kotsu bus for Kawahira stops at Amidado.
Archaeologists uncovered a paradise garden with a pond, pebble beach, ornamental rocks, and a central island between 1972 and 1982. This discovery helped scholars better understand the original design concept of the site.
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