Ishiyamadera

Ishiyamadera is a Shingon Buddhist temple in Otsu, traditionally said to have been founded by the monk Rōben in 747. The temple preserves numerous important cultural properties. Among its most notable holdings are two fragments of the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji), the first of China’s Twenty-Four Histories; these are the only known surviving fragments that predate the Tang dynasty.

The temple complex includes significant architectural works such as the Hondō (Main Hall) and the two-story Tahōtō pagoda, both designated National Treasures as outstanding examples of traditional Japanese temple architecture. Ishiyamadera also preserves important paintings, Buddhist scriptures, statues, and other cultural assets. The guardian statues at the Sanmon (also called Tōdaimon) are attributed to the Kamakura-period sculptors Unkei and Tankei, active in the late 12th and early 13th centuries.

According to temple tradition, Murasaki Shikibu began writing The Tale of Genji at Ishiyamadera during a full moon in 1004. The temple commemorates this association with the “Genji no Ma” (Genji Room), which includes a life-size figure of Murasaki Shikibu and a statue in her honor.

The Hondō is considered the oldest wooden structure in Shiga Prefecture and incorporates elements rebuilt during the Heian period (794–1185). The Tahōtō pagoda, constructed in 1194 with a donation from Minamoto no Yoritomo, is regarded as one of the oldest surviving examples of its type in Japan. It enshrines a statue of Dainichi Nyorai (Vairocana) dating to the Kamakura period (1185–1333).