Wakasa Kokubun-ji

The Shoku Nihongi records that in 741, as the country recovered from a major smallpox epidemic, Emperor Shōmu ordered that a monastery and nunnery be established in every province, the {{nihongo|kokubunji|国分寺}}.{{cite book |title=Cambridge History of Japan vol. I |page=255 |author=Brown, Delmer M. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1993}}{{cite book |title=Hiraizumi: Buddhist Art and Regional Politics in Twelfth-Century Japan |pages=22f |author=Yiengpruksawan, Mimi Hall |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1998}}

The Wakasa Kokubun-ji is located on the alluvial plain of the Kitagawa River, approximately 4.5 kilometers east of the modern city centre of Obama. An archaeological excavation was conducted since 1972, indicating that the present temple overlaps the Nara period temple, which was built on a scale slightly smaller than other provincial temples, with compound 230 meters square. The exact date of construction is unknown, but is believed to be around 741 AD based on records indicating that the structures of Taikō-ji, pre-existing family temple of a local clan, was relocated to this site to create the Wakasa Kokubun-ji. The original temple was rebuilt in the Heian period with a slightly different building plan, and in a record dating 1603, the date of construction is given as 807 AD. No roof tiles have been found at the site, which is unusual for a provincial temple. The temple is mentioned in Heian period and Kamakura period records, although mention of its associated provincial nunnery disappear after 1265 AD, and the exact site of the nunnery is now unknown.

In 1611, a Shako-dō was constructed on the site of the original Kondō. This building was rebuilt in 1705.

The current precincts consist of the Shako-dō, a 5 x 5 bay building in the irimoya-style containing the temple's honzon Shaka Nyorai. Both the building and the statue are Obama City Designated Tangible Cultural Properties. To the west of the Shako-dō is the Yakushi-dō, containing a Yakushi Nyorai flanked by Shaka Nyorai and Amida Nyorai. The Edo period Yakushi Nyorai is from the now-vanished provincial nunnery, and is an Important Cultural Property.{{cite web |url= http://www1.city.obama.fukui.jp/obm/rekisi/sekai_isan/Japanese/data/116.htm |title= 若狭小浜のデジタル文化財|language=Japanese |publisher=City of Obama |accessdate=}} The other two statues are both Obama City Designated Tangible Cultural Properties.

Also within the grounds is a large circular kofun tumulus, with a diameter of approximately 50 meters. One of the largest in the Wakasa region, it dates from the 6th century.

Wakasa Kokubunji, Yakushidou.jpg|Yakushi-do

Wakasa Kokubunji Kofun, zenkei.jpg|Kofun

Wakasa Kokubunji, tou-ato.jpg|Site of the pagoda

Wakasa Kokubunji, nandaimon-ato.jpg|Site of the South Gate

• List of Historic Sites of Japan (Fukui)
• provincial temple

{{reflist}}

{{commons category|Wakasa Kokubun-ji}}

• [http://info.pref.fukui.jp/bunka/bunkazai/sitei/siseki/obama-wakasakokubunji.html Fukui Prefectural Cultural Sites] {{in lang|ja}}
• [http://www1.city.obama.fukui.jp/obm/rekisi/sekai_isan/Japanese/data/122.htm Obama City official home page] {{in lang|ja}}
• [http://www1.city.obama.fukui.jp/japan_heritage/bunkazai/detail.php?lang=EN&id=52 Cultural sites in Wakasa Province]

{{Buddhist temples in Japan}}

Category:Buddhist temples in Fukui Prefecture

Category:Historic Sites of Japan

Category:Echizen Province

Category:Important Cultural Properties of Japan

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Category:8th-century establishments in Japan

Category:Nara period

Category:8th-century Buddhist temples

Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in 1705

Category:741 establishments

Category:Soto temples

Category:Buildings and structures in Obama, Fukui