Toyokawa Things to Do

At this particulary temple you can purchase roof tiles , write your name on it and pay 1500yen....they will hopefully be use when the roof need reparing......

Ok.....I was a little desappointed that I had to write my name in "permanent ink"....that kind of ink will not last long. in my opinion .:(.....so I guess is just a fun way to donate money to the temple......

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This hall built in traditional storehouse style, enshrine the DAIKOKUTEN....

Daikokuten was one of the 7 gods called Shichifukujin which brought good luck.

They are gods and holy persons of Buddhism, Shinto and Taoism and are often seen drawn riding in a treasure ship .

Nowadays, at temples and shrines with Shichifukujin connections, people pray for long life and family well-being, and merchants, hoping for business success.

... if you rub the statue it will bring good luck...

Who was DAIKOKUTEN..

A syncretic deity uniting the Indian god Mahakala with the Deity Oh-kuninushi (great land-possesor, which can also be read "dai-koku") and identified variously as the god of the kitchen, of wealth or fortune, and especially in Kyushu as kami of the ricefields and of agriculture.

In this building there is the largest room of the whole temple....Its used for lectures on Buddhism and for serving food..

When the 11 room partitions are removed...This becomes a 400 mat room and can hold up to 1000 people...

Notice in front of the room facing the great entrance hall is a pine board hallway, over which hangs framed a calligraphy of the priest MOKUDO which says...
"THIS PLACE IS THE MOST AUSPICIOUS.

This elevated HALLWAY extends from the HATTO to the HONDEN..

It was completed in 1930...Over 4 meters wide and 200 meters long.the ceiling is constructed on CAMPHOR and the remainder of KATSURA, cinnamon tree..

Part of the passage is a "NIGHTTINGALE FLOOR".. the boards are designed to emit a singing sound when walked on....

In the picture the hall is above the arch...

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Omikuji are random fortunes written on strips of paper at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan.

Literally they are "looking-lottery", You shake a container full of bamboo sticks and then remove one through the hole in the container... hoping for the resulting fortune to be good.

.then(pic#2)...on the stick you will find a number , with that number you take a corresponding slip of paper with fortune written on it from the drawers .....

....(pic#3)On the piece of paper you will find your fortune written on it which can be any one of the following:
Great blessing (dai-kichi, ),
Middle blessing (chu-kiji),
Small blessing,
Blessing (kichi)
Half-blessing (han-kichi),
Near-blessing (sue-kichi)
Near-small-blessing
Curse
Small curse
Half-curse (han-ky),
Near-curse
Great curse (dai-kyo).

THIS IS WHAT YOU DO

When the prediction is BAD, it is a custom to fold up the strip of paper and attach it to a pine tree in the temple grounds.

The reason for this cutsom is a pun on the word for pine tree and the verb 'to wait' , the idea being that the bad luck will wait by the tree rather than attach itself to the bearer.

In the event of the fortune being GOOD, the bearer should keep it.

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....It is built entirely of ZELKOVA wood, with a 2-tiered peaked roof over 3 bays..

The building is about 20 meters wide, 40 meters deep and 30 meters high...Its a very impressive building...

The HONDEN is a hall where DAKINITEN is worshipped.

WHAT WAS THE DAKINI

.....As though a sudden apparition, a female deity in fluttering raiment splashes up a frame of foam on a billowing sea. Riding a white fox on a cloud held aloft by a pair of dragons, she clenches a vajra (thunderbolt) surmounted by a sword, a symbol of Buddhist power.

In her palm she cradles a triad of sacred jewels, and others are scattered around her as abundant blessings.

In her crown are auspicious protectors of the harvest: diminutive foxes on coiled white snakes, like those that encircle her wrists.

Above, another triad of sacred jewels rests on an open lotus, flanked by Chinese symbols of the complementary forces of sun and moon.

This transformation of the wrathful Hindu deva Dakini emerged within Esoteric Buddhism in Japan.

Originally a man-eating demoness, she was converted by the Vairocana Buddha into a powerful life-engendering deity.

In the complex interaction of Buddhism, Shinto, and Taoist yin-yang practices in medieval Japan, this icon embodied near-magical powers of fecundity that were invoked not only in enthronement rituals but also in personal contexts.

The mantra identified with this deity was chanted to achieve control over the mind.

Medieval tales recount invocations of Dakiniten by both men and women to win position and favor at court, as well as in matters of the heart...

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The main gate of this Temple was rebuilt in 1656, about 210 years after it was first erected..

The present structure was completed on April 10, 1884...

Its a very beautiful and big gate, built entirely of ZELKOVA wood with a shingled copper roof..The 2 gates doors are particularly interesting , they are also made of a single SELKOVA boards with unsual fish-scale grain..

There are around 100 buildings in all within this temple complex...

In addition there are branch temples in TOKYO, OSAKA, YOKOSUKA, SAPPORO, FUKUOKA , SHIZUOKA...

On the other side of the garden is a pond where turtles and carp swim...

There are cycads, azaleas, peonys, camilas and other flowers which will bloom according to their season....

It was a very small garden but beautifully arranged, well worth spending some time to admire..