# Kanzeon-ji

Kanzeon-ji (観世音寺) is a seventh-century Buddhist temple in Dazaifu, Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was once the most important temple in Kyushu. Its bell, one of the oldest in the country, has been designated a National Treasure, and in 1996 the Ministry of the Environment designated its sound as one of the 100 Soundscapes of Japan. Many statues of the Heian period are Important Cultural Properties.

## History

The origins of Kanzeon-ji re uncertain, and its oldest known appearance in historical documentation is in the Kanzeon-ji Zaizaicho (National Treasure, owned by Tokyo University of the Arts), compiled in 905. According to the Shoku Nihongi, Kanzeon-ji was founded by Emperor Tenji in honour of his mother Empress Saimei. As she died in 661 it is assumed that construction began shortly thereafter; however, it was still incomplete fifty years later when in 709 additional workers were assigned. A further entry in the Shoku Nihongi indicates that it was completed on in 746. The oldest roof tiles excavated from the temple grounds date to the 7th century and have patterns of double-valved, eight-petaled lotus-shaped eaves and eccentric arabesque patterns also found in Fujiwara-kyō and Kawara-dera in Asuka, Nara. The bonshō bell at Kanzeon-ji was cast using the same wooden mold as the bell at Myōshin-ji in Kyoto, which has the date inscription of 698. All of the original structures of Kanzeon-ji have been lost and rebuilt repeatedly due to fires and other disasters. Excavation has revealed that the original layout of the temple was patterned after Kawara-dera, with a south gate, middle gate, Kondō (Main Hall) to the west, pagoda to the east and a lecture hall in the centre, with a cloister. In 761, the monk Ganjin constructed a Kaidan-in, which permitted monks trained at this temple to be fully ordained without having to travel all the way to the capital. In 1064, a fire destroyed the lecture hall and pagoda. In 1102, the Kondō, South Gate, and other buildings collapsed due to a strong wind. The Kondō was later restored, but it was destroyed again in a fire in 1143. The temple went into decline in the Muromachi and Sengoku Periods, and by 1630, its only remaining main hall In 1630, the only remaining main hall collapsed during a rainstorm, and Kanzeon-ji was reduced to an abandoned temple.
In 1631, a new Kondō was built, and under the sponsorship by the Kuroda clan of Fukuoka Domain. The Kondō and lecture hall were rebuilt in the Genroku era (1688-1703). These structures are now designated Fukuoka Prefectural Tangible Cultural Properties. From 1913 to 1914, repairs were made to the badly damaged Buddha statues. In 1959, the reinforced concrete treasure house was completed. This was one of the earliest temple cultural property repositories built.
The grounds and ruins of Kanzeon-ji (観世音寺境内及び子院跡) were declared an National Historic Site in 1970.

## Cultural Properties

Kanzeon-ji houses a National Treasure and a number of statues and other items that are Important Cultural Properties:
* bell (梵鐘) of the Nara period (National Treasure)
* wooden seated statue of Amida Nyorai (木造阿弥陀如来坐像) of the Heian period
* wooden statue of Amida Nyorai (木造阿弥陀如来立像) of the Heian period
* wooden seated statue of Kannon (木造観音菩薩坐像) of the Heian period (1066)
* wooden statue of Kannon (木造観音菩薩立像) of the Heian period
* wooden statue of Kannon (木造観音菩薩立像) of the Heian period
* wooden statue of Kichijōten (木造吉祥天立像) of the Heian period
* set of wooden statues of the Shitennō (木造四天王立像) of the Heian period
* wooden statue of Jūichimen Kannon (木造十一面観音立像) of the Heian period
* wooden statue of Jūichimen Kannon (木造十一面観音立像) of the Heian period (1069)
* wooden statue of Jūichimen Kannon (木造十一面観音立像) of the Kamakura period (1242)
* wooden statue of Daikoku-ten (木造大黒天立像) of the Heian period
* wooden statue of Jizō (木造地蔵菩薩半跏像) of the Heian period
* wooden statue of Jizō (木造地蔵菩薩立像) of the Heian period
* wooden statue of Batō Kannon (木造馬頭観音立像) of the Heian period
* wooden statue of Bishamonten (木造毘沙門天立像) of the Heian period
* wooden statue of Fukūkenjaku Kannon (木造不空羂索観音立像) of the Kamakura period (1222)
* three wooden bugaku masks (木造舞楽面) of the Kamakura period
* stone komainu (石造狛犬) of the Kamakura period
* bronze mirror (銅製天蓋光心) of the Nara period
A Heian period inventory of Kanzeon-ji (観世音寺資財帳) dating to 905 and now in Tokyo has been designated a National Treasure.