Shakado Hall and the Junshi Graves 釈迦堂及び殉死墓

Official explanation

This hall enshrines a seated Shaka triad—a statue of the historical Buddha accompanied by two bodhisattvas. It is not known when this building was constructed, but it was moved to this location in 1640. The hall was used for meditation.

Two rows of large stone monuments stand to the left of the temple. They are the graves of twenty-four of the chief vassals of the Tokugawa family from the early period of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603–1867). The first five from the left in the front row are particularly noteworthy. They committed ritual suicide when their feudal lord, Iemitsu, the third Tokugawa shogun, died, in order to follow him into the next world, which is known as junshi in Japanese. Thus, these five graves are known as the Junshi Graves. This form of suicide was later forbidden by the Tokugawa shogunate.

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.