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Gangoji is one of the oldest temples of Japan. Founded by Soga no Umako in 593 in the Asuka area, it played an important role in spreading Buddhism which initially was seen as a form of foreign magic to protect the state. In 718 the capital was transferred to Nara (Heijokyo) and Gangoji followed – although it left a small temple with a battered statue behind in Asuka which still exists today. The new temple stood just south of Kofukuji and was counted among the Seven Great Temples of age.

[Main Hall of Gokurakubo, Gangoji, Nara]

It must have been a splendid temple, but all that remains of it today are the foundation stones of a pagoda, standing forlorn in a quiet garden somewhere in the middle of the old town of Nara (a small model of that pagoda can be seen in the Gangoji Museum). And there is a famous statue of a stern Yakushi Nyorai, now housed in the Nara National Museum.

[Zenshitsu of Gokurakubo, Gangoji, Nara]

And part of the elongated hall for the monks has been preserved. You can see such halls where the monks lived also in Horyuji. In the case of Gangoji, it long ago lost its function and was incorporated into a sub-temple, Gokurakubo, the “Paradise Quarters.” Gokurakubo today is the only functioning part of Gangoji, so it has taken over the name, but originally it was just an offshoot that became more important than the original temple.

[Stone statues in front of the Zenshitsu, Gangoji, Nara]

Gokurakubo was set up in the 8th c. after the Sanrin priest Chiko in his later years was directed in a dream to rely on faith in Amida alone. It became one of the earliest centers of faith in the Buddha Amida and his Western Paradise in Japan. In the following centuries, Amidism became very popular among the ordinary people, so Gokurakubo grew and survived as a living temple, while the rest of Gangoji fell away in the shadow of the centuries.

[Peeping into the Paradise Quarters, Gangoji, Nara]

But it, too, was rebuilt: the main hall dates from the Kamakura period (1244), but incorporates as its rear part the above mentioned monks’ hall of the original temple. So some elements of the temple from 718 survive here: some pieces of wood, especially part of the roof tiles are thought to be original – you can detect them by looking at the color, they are a bit brownish. This part of the hall is called Zenshitsu, or Meditation Hall. Other treasures in the temple are a serene Amida statue, an Amidist mandala developed by Chiko – this mandala was the main devotional image of Gokurakubo.

[Zenshitsu, Gangoji, Nara - can you spot the older tiles?]

I first came to Gangoji in December 1988, already more than twenty years ago (the photos used here were taken at that time). My wife and I had traveled to Nara from Tokyo that day, put our luggage in the hotel and then came to Gangoji. I just had a busy and rather annoying period in my work in Tokyo behind me. It was a fresh but sunny winter day, and standing there in front of the serene temple with its deep, soothing browns and grays was such an uplifting experience that all shadows in my mind fell away. That is why I love to visit temples in Japan – it is a perfect antidote to the modern world and its anxiety. In the ensuing weeks, my wife and I would visit all famous and many not-so famous temples in Nara, studying the ancient statues, and we saw many more great things, but the feeling on this first, bright day, was the best of them all.

See all my Gangoji photos on Flickr!

Access: 15 min on fot from Nara Kintetsu st., 10 min south of Kofukuji, right in the middle of the old town of Nara
Entry: 400 yen. Hrs. 9:00-17:00 (in winter 16:30), closed 12/28-1/4 and 8/21-8/25.
Tel. 0742-23-1377


P.S. Nowadays there is an excellent shop selling local sakes opposite the gate of Gangoji!