Engyōji and the Arts 圓教寺と芸能

Official explanation

Stories about Engyōji, its monks, and the famous visitors it has received are woven into the fabric of Japanese literature and theater. An early example dates from the lifetime of the temple’s founding abbot, Shōkū (910–1007), when the renowned literary figure and lady of the courts, Izumi Shikibu (976–1030), contacted him in search of spiritual guidance. Rich with Buddhist imagery, the waka poem she composed on that occasion was selected for inclusion in an imperial anthology, the highest poetic honor of its time. A stone monument to Izumi Shikibu stands just north of the Founder’s Hall (Kaisandō).

A passage in the Taiheiki (Chronicle of Great Peace), one of Japan’s most famous medieval war tales, recounts Emperor Godaigo’s (1288–1339) momentous visit to Engyōji in 1333 to pray for victory over the Kamakura shogunate. As the Taiheiki was revised and popularized through stage plays in subsequent centuries, knowledge of Engyōji spread far and wide.

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During the late fourteenth century, Noh theater rose in prominence as it gained popularity among the elite. Shōkū plays a critical role in the play Eguchi, written by Zeami Motokiyo (c. 1363–1443), who is often credited as the father of Noh. In the play, one character’s recounting of a story about Shōkū provides the first clues that the play’s main character, the deceased Madam Eguchi, may be an avatar of the Bodhisattva Fugen. In 2006, a production of Eguchi was performed on the stage of the Jōgyōdō to mark the 1,000th anniversary of Shōkū’s death. The picturesque setting of the temple’s Three Halls has also appeared in several major historical television dramas and movies, including The Last Samurai (2003), starring Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.