The Monk, the Wanderer, and the Dead

Toukou-ji Temple (東光寺) is a temple located in the Iwakiri suburbs of Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture. Situated along the gently flowing Nanakita River, this small temple is quite unassuming and seems to be nothing special. There isn’t much to look at and it is difficult to access without a car. Plus there is an unusually high volume of graves for a temple, which even in the daytime could be a little discomforting. This is really a place for the history fans—like me. In fact, it was because I saw an exhibit at the Sendai City Museum mentioning this temple that I made the trip.

Toukou-ji Temple dates way back to the 9th century. This is important because most people consider Sendai as being just 400 years old when feudal lord Date Masamune developed it into a castle town and soon thriving metropolis. The temple is said to have been founded by the famous Tendai sect monk Ennin (Jikaku Daishi). This great man devoted his entire life to studying, spreading, and developing Buddhism in Japan. His travels took him to study on Mt. Hiei near Kyoto and all the way to China, then throughout Japan.

The highlight of the temple are its stone wall carvings of Buddhist statues inside caves. These are believed to have been made sometime between the Kamakura period and Nanboku period (so roughly in the 1300s). Specifically, this main attraction are images of Amida Nyorai and Yakushi Nyorai. There are said to be around 120 artifacts scattered around the temple or being preserved by various organizations, though most are heavily weathered and not much to look at.

You feel a sense of power and spiritual energy when viewing these seven-century old and aging carvings in person. That alone made the trip worthwhile for me. To see the main statues (pictured), enter the temple and follow the paved car road on your left. Walk up for a few minutes and it will be on your left. I was not sure where it was and began hopelessly looking around the graves around the temple and hills.

Around the year 1690, the legendary haiku poet Matsuo Basho made his epic journey: “The Narrow Road to the Deep North”. This temple was one of the locations he traveled.

Again, this temple is really just for the history lovers. If you want to see a more impressive temple also founded by Ennin, visited by Matsuo Basho, and with some Buddhist artifacts, you should skip this and head to the popular Yamadera mountain temple complex an hour train ride from Sendai.