Nago-ji

Nago-ji (那古寺) is a Buddhist temple located in the Nago neighborhood of the city of Tateyama, in southern Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It belongs to the Shingon-shū Chizan-ha sect and its honzon is a statue of Senjū Kannon Bosatsu (Sahasrabhūja). The temple is the 33rd and final stop on the Bandō Sanjūsankasho pilgrimage route of approximately 1,360 kilometers from Sugimoto-dera in Kamakura. The temple is also called Nago-dera using the alternate pronunciation of the final Chinese character in its name, or the Nago Kannon (古寺観音), after its primary object of worship.

Nago-dera is located on the middle slopes of Mount Nago at the southern tip of the Bōsō Peninsula, and is surrounded by forest. The area around the temple has important stands of sudajii Castanopsis, the tabunoki machilus species of laurel, the yabunikkei species of cinnamomum, camellia and the himeyuzuri species of daphniphyllum.

The foundation of this temple is uncertain. According to temple legend contained in the Nago-dera engi text, Nago-dera was founded by when the wandering holy ascetic Gyōki carved an image of Kannon from a piece of incense wood found in the seas around 717 AD. He dedicated the statue for the recovery of Empress Genshō from an illness, and she soon staged a miraculous recovery. However, no historical documents have survived to substantiate this legend. The temple was used as a place of worship by successive samurai clans, starting with Minamoto no Yoritomo, who fled to Awa Province after his defeat at the Battle of Ishibashiyama. He prayed at this temple for safety and eventual victory over the Heike clan. The temple was thereafter associated with the samurai class, and supported by Ashikaga Takauji, and Satomi Yoshizane in the Muromachi period. Most of the temple was destroyed by a fire following the 1703 Genroku earthquake. The main hall, also called Kannon-dō, was rebuilt in 1758. The other buildings followed a little later.

Chiba-ken kotogakko Kyoiku Kenkyukai. Chiba-Ken no rekishi sampo. Yamakawa Shuppan. pp. 278–279. ISBN 978-4-634-24612-6.