Hokiji Temple 法起寺

Official explanation

Hokiji Temple is one of the seven great Buddhist temples founded by Prince Shotoku (574–622), a statesman who spread Buddhism throughout Japan during the Asuka period (593–710). His son, Prince Yamashiro, established this temple after his father’s death, and it was completed in 708. Excavations have revealed the presence of an earlier structure on this site, the Okamoto Palace, where the Prince lectured on the Lotus Sutra.

Hokiji Temple’s magnificent three-story pagoda, a National Treasure, is the only original structure remaining from the early eighth century. The priest Shinsei Ennin and his followers restored the pagoda and built the Kodo Hall in the late seventeenth century. The Shotendo Hall was added in 1863. The Kodo Hall houses a gilded wooden statue of the Eleven-Faced Kannon, carved in the Heian period (794–1185) and listed as an Important Cultural Property.

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In 1993, Horyuji Temple’s inner precincts and surroundings, including Hokiji Temple, were the first site in Japan to be registered as a World Heritage Site.

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.