Dōjō-ji Temple, Buddhist temple in Hidakagawa, Japan.
Dōjō-ji is a Buddhist temple in Hidakagawa, Japan, set among forested hills in Wakayama Prefecture. The main hall from the mid-14th century stands alongside a pagoda and smaller buildings spread across grounds lined with stone lanterns and cypress walkways.
Tradition credits Emperor Monmu with founding the temple in 701 at the request of the monk Gien, though excavations since 1978 have uncovered Nara-period foundations of a pagoda, main hall, and cloister. The present main hall was completed in 1357, as recorded in an inscription on its wall boards. Toyotomi Hideyoshi's 1585 conquest of Kii Province burned most buildings and looted the bell; Tokugawa Yorinobu funded roof repairs in 1655.
The temple's name is not an etymology but a place name tied to its legendary founder, Ki no Dōjō. Today visitors can attend a picture-sermon in the Engi Hall, where a priest unrolls scrolls and narrates the Anchin and Kiyohime story, a tale already recorded in the Heian-period Dōjō-ji Miyako-hime Denki.
The grounds are open at all times, while the treasure hall requires advance arrangement to enter. The path from the parking area to the main hall follows a gentle incline with steps, manageable for most visitors.
The bell that features in the Anchin and Kiyohime story no longer exists at the temple. The second bell, cast in 1359, was taken by the warlord Sengoku Hidehisa and is kept at Myōman-ji in Kyoto; only the stone base and foundation stones of its bell tower remain.
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