Junkyoji Temple

Junkyo-ji Temple is one of the temples of the Jodo Shinshu Hongan-ji sect. It was founded in 1574 (Tensho 2) by Kyoshun. Kyoshun originally purchased a mansion built in Ichikawa-mura (present-day Shiraki-cho Ichikawa) by Yoshikawa Tsuneyoshi (later Ichikawa Tsuneyoshi), a vassal of the Mori clan, and built Junkyo-ji Temple on the site. The fact that Kyoshun purchased the mansion from Ichikawa Tsuneyoshi is recorded in the Takada County Villages Memorandum. Traces of Ichikawa Tsuneyoshi's mansion remain today as the stone walls of Junkyo-ji Temple. The temple also houses two "Golden Bronze Disc Hanging Buddhas" and one "Copper Disc Hanging Buddha," both designated as Important Tangible Cultural Properties by the City of Hiroshima. Hanging Buddhas have been hung on the eaves or inside buildings of temples and shrines since ancient times and have been worshiped. These three hanging Buddha statues are said to have been made during the Muromachi period. On the back of one of the two gilt bronze disk hanging Buddha statues, there is an inscription written in ink stating that on April 15, 1474 (6th year of Bunmei), a man named Mononobe Taro Sozaemon donated the hanging Buddha statue to Hachiman Shrine. Hanging Buddha statues with such inscriptions are rare even within the prefecture, making them a valuable resource.