Nanzo-in
{{Short description|Shingon Buddhist temple in Sasaguri, Fukuoka, Japan}}
{{Infobox religious building
| name = Nanzo-in
南蔵院
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| location = 1035, Sasaguri, Sasaguri-machi, Kasuya-gun, Fukuoka
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| religious_affiliation = Shingon
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| country = Japan
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| website = http://www.nanzoin.net/
| founded_by = Hayashi Satoshiun
| year_completed = 1899
}}
Nanzo-in ({{Nihongo2|南蔵院|help=yes}}) is a Shingon Buddhist temple in Sasaguri, Fukuoka, Japan. It is notable for its bronze statue of a reclining Buddha, said to be the largest bronze statue in the world.
History
File:Gate of Nanzoin Temple in Sasaguri, Kasuya, Fukuoka.JPG
Nanzo-in was originally located on Mount Kōya, but local anti-Buddhist authorities threatened to destroy the temple in 1886.{{Cite web|url=https://www.japan.travel/in/spot/2167/|title=Nanzo-in Temple|access-date=2018-05-29|archive-date=2018-05-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529130312/https://www.japan.travel/in/spot/2167/|url-status=dead}} Public outcry lead to a decade-long effort to have the temple transferred to Sasaguri.{{cite book|last1=ACROS|first1=Fukuoka|title=Fukuoka Guide Spring 2011|date=2011|publisher=ACROS Fukuoka}} It was moved in 1899, under the leadership of Sasaguri priest, Hayashi Satoshiun.{{cite web|last1=Kanko|first1=Sasaguri|title=Sasaguri Tourism: Nanzoin Temple (Japanese)|url=http://www.sasagurikanko.com/temple/nanzoin/|website=Sasagurikanko.com|accessdate=9 December 2015|archive-date=20 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020191359/http://www.sasagurikanko.com/temple/nanzoin/|url-status=dead}} Nanzo-in is the main location among the 88 temples that make up the Sasaguri pilgrimage route, one of the three famous walking pilgrimages in Japan.{{cite web |last1=Fukuoka |first1=Crossroads |title=Nanzoin Temple |url=http://www.crossroadfukuoka.jp/en/event/?mode=detail&id=4000000000402&isSpot=1 |url-status=dead |publisher=Crossroads |access-date=2015-12-09 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030447/http://www.crossroadfukuoka.jp/en/event/?mode=detail&id=4000000000402&isSpot=1 }}{{Cite web |title=Sasaguri Pilgrimage {{!}} Japan Experience |url=https://www.japan-experience.com/plan-your-trip/to-know/traveling-japan/sasaguri-pilgrimage |access-date=2022-10-22 |website=www.japan-experience.com}}
Today, the temple and its surrounding grounds receive more than 1 million visitors annually.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}
=Lottery=
A chief priest of Nanzo-in once won the lottery after laying his ticket next to a statue of Daikoku.{{Cite web|url=https://taiken.co/single/nanzo-in-temple-the-reclining-buddha-temple/|title=Nanzo-in Temple: The Reclining Buddha Temple|access-date=2018-05-29|archive-date=2018-05-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529130537/https://taiken.co/single/nanzo-in-temple-the-reclining-buddha-temple/|url-status=dead}} The temple claims that others who have made a similar effort have also won the lottery, bringing the temple associations with luck and lottery tickets.{{Cite web|url=https://bemarietravels.com/nanzoin-temple-fukuoka/|title=The Beautiful Nanzoin Temple Fukuoka}}
Reclining Buddha
The reclining Buddha statue, known as either Nehanzo or Shaka Nehan ("Nirvana"){{cite web|title=Karmic Cleansing|url=http://www.macleans.ca/society/life/karmic-cleansing/|website=Macleans.ca|accessdate=9 December 2015}} is {{convert|41|m}} long, {{convert|11|m}} high, and weighs nearly 300 tons.{{cite book|last1=Sasaguri-shi|title=Sasaguri Sight-Seeing Spots|publisher=Sasaguri Town|url=http://www.town.sasaguri.fukuoka.jp/userfiles/files/data/create/lecture/sightseeing_spots.pdf|access-date=2015-12-09|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304080526/http://www.town.sasaguri.fukuoka.jp/userfiles/files/data/create/lecture/sightseeing_spots.pdf|url-status=dead}} The statue depicts Buddha at the moment of death, or entrance into nirvana.
The interior holds ashes of Buddha and two Buddhist adherents, Ānanda and Maudgalyayana. Those relics were a gift from Myanmar as thanks for the sect's donations of medical supplies to children in both Nepal and Myanmar. In 1995, 1,300 monks from Myanmar and Nepal attended the unveiling of the reclining Buddha statue.
Inside the sculpture, sand from each of the 88 shrines that make up the Shikoku pilgrimage are stored below bricks within a narrow hallway.{{cite web|last1=Nakamura|first1=Connie|title=Sasaguri Town - Mini Pilgrimage And More!|url=http://taiken.co/single/sasaguri-town-mini-pilgrimage-and-more|website=Taiken.co|publisher=Taiken|accessdate=9 December 2015|archive-date=7 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107165142/https://taiken.co/single/sasaguri-town-mini-pilgrimage-and-more|url-status=dead}}
Every year, hundreds of Buddhists come together to clean the statue using bamboo leaves tied to five-meter poles.
Funerals
Nanzo-in has 4,315 nokotsudo, places where bones of the deceased are stored. The temple has a non-traditional fee structure for housing remains that is open to all sects of Buddhism, as well as to Shinto remains. This is aligned with many other Buddhist temples that rely on a monthly fee for housing the bones of the deceased, which are then disposed of after a set period of time. Nanzo-in has one fee, which covers 200 years.{{cite book|last1=Bryant|first1=Clifton|title=Handbook of Death and Dying|url=https://archive.org/details/handbookdeathdyi00brya|url-access=limited|date=2003|publisher=SAGE|page=[https://archive.org/details/handbookdeathdyi00brya/page/n724 668]}}
References
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{{coord|33.619839|N|130.572935|E|region:JP_type:city|display=title}}
Category:Buddhist temples in Fukuoka Prefecture