Most viewed - Ikegami Honmonji Temple 池上本門寺 |
Way to Ikegami Honmonji Temple. Belonging to the Nichiren Sect, this is one of Tokyo's major temples.351 views
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Soshido Main Hall, Ikegami Honmonji. The original Main Hall was burned during an bombing raid in April 1945. 大堂(祖師堂)279 views
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See the baby buddha's hands pointing to Heaven. Sweet tea is poured over a statue of a baby buddha. According to legend, sweet rain (or perfumed water) fell when the Buddha was born.275 views
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Hanamatsuri, Buddha's birthday on April 8. A small statue of the baby Buddha is in a miniature temple called Hanami-do (花御堂). This is Ikegami Honmonji temple in Tokyo.255 views
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Map of temple grounds. There are both traditional and modern buildings.248 views
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Statue of Rikidozan (1924-1963) at his grave at Ikegami Honmonji temple, Tokyo. He was a sumo wrestler until 1950 before becoming a pro wrestler.230 views
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Niomon Gate 仁王門(三門)192 views
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Hoto means "Treasure Tower." A beautiful building. Ikegami Honmonji, Tokyo 宝塔187 views
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Inside Soshido Hall, view of left side. 大堂(祖師堂)185 views
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Ikegami Station platform on the Tokyu Ikegami Line185 views
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The hall was reconstructed in 1964 financed by donations from all over Japan. It is a ferro-concrete structure. 大堂(祖師堂)180 views
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大堂(祖師堂)168 views
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Ikegami Station on the Tokyu Ikegami Line which starts in Gotanda.168 views
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Incense burner148 views
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Soshido Hall altar 大堂(祖師堂)146 views
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Inside Soshido Hall, view of right side. 大堂(祖師堂)146 views
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Poster for the temple's spring festival which includes Hanamatsuri.144 views
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Statue of Rikidozan who was famous for his "karate chop" during the 1950s and early '60s. This famous postwar "Japanese hero" was actually Korean.135 views
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Side view of Soshido Hall. 大堂129 views
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Setsubun bean throwing at Ikegami Honmonji temple, Tokyo.129 viewsThey threw a lot of beans for about 10 min. Interesting that they did not say, "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" We caught a good haul of lucky beans.
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Five-story Pagoda and cherry blossoms. 五重塔127 views
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Rikidozan's gravestone124 views
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White elephant for Hanamatsuri122 views
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Priests procession heading for Ikegami Honmonji's main worship hall on Setsubun day, Feb. 3.119 views
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Matsumoto Iyo to throw beans for setsubun at Ikegami Honmonji temple, Tokyo.119 views
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Rikidozan's grave, the temple's most famous grave.118 views
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Hanamatsuri, Buddha's birthday. When the Buddha was born, he walked seven steps and said, "I am my own Lord through Heaven and Earth," and pointed one hand to Heaven and the other to Earth. 117 views
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Setsubun at Ikegami Honmonji temple, Tokyo.117 views
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Boy priest sweeping at Ikegami Honmonji, Tokyo.116 views
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People line up to pour sweet tea over the baby buddha. 大堂114 views
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Five-story Pagoda was another structure which escaped war damage. 五重塔113 views
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Back of Soshido Main Hall112 views
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Rikidozan's grave109 views
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Roof of Soshido Main Hall 大堂105 views
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Sign pointing the way to wrestler Rikidozan's grave.102 views
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Five-story Pagoda built in 1607, Tokyo's oldest pagoda. 五重塔99 views
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Behind the pagoda are many graves.99 views
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Tea ceremony97 views
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Doors of Soshido Main Hall 大堂96 views
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Marker for the temple.95 views
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Altar in Kyozo 経蔵93 views
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Hoto tower built on the site where Nichiren was cremated. 宝塔93 views
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Graves near Hoto tower93 views
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Hanamatsuri parade90 views
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Nitchodo Hall 日朝堂88 views
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五重塔87 views
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87 views
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87 views
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宝塔87 views
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Ikegami Honmonji, Tokyo87 views
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Car for Hanamatsuri86 views
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Hanamatsuri Parade on April 8, Buddha's birthday.86 views
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Hanamatsuri Parade on April 8, Buddha's birthday.85 views
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Gate to Honden84 views
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Spring festival site with food and entertainment.84 views
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Hanamatsuri Parade on April 8, Buddha's birthday.84 views
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Built in 1828 and made of wood. It is the only tower of its kind in Japan placed outdoors. 宝塔84 views
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Honden Hall 本殿82 views
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Bell tower 鐘楼堂81 views
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Hoto tower 宝塔81 views
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Kyozo houses Buddhist scriptures. 経蔵80 views
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White elephant is usually present during Hanamatsuri. On the day before the Buddha's mother Queen Maya gave birth, she dreamed that a white elephant entered her womb.80 views
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Hoto tower 宝塔79 views
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Honden and temple office on right. 本殿、客殿寺務所78 views
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Treasure House 霊宝殿76 views
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Hanamatsuri Parade on April 8, Buddha's birthday.76 views
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Ikegami Station on the Tokyu Ikegami Line43 views
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In front of Ikegami Station on the Tokyu Ikegami Line, follow this road for a short walk to Ikegami Honmonji temple.37 views
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Matsumoto Iyo's place.36 views
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In front of the station.36 views
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35 views
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On Feb. 3, Ikegami Honmonji holds the annual Setsubun ceremony and bean throwing.35 views
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Taiko drum performance in early April in front of the temple.35 views
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Press cameramen behind us on their own platform to record the event.35 views
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At 3 pm, the bean throwers appeared and took their positions after attending a ceremony inside the temple.35 views
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The bean throwers included minor celebrities, former pro wrestlers, and men and women born in the Year of the Monkey.35 views
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Former yokozuna Akebono was also supposed to throw beans, but he had to be hospitalized for a swollen right leg. Too bad. 35 views
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Before the bean throwing, a few taiko drummer friends performed at 1 pm for 20 min. on the bean-throwing platform in front of the temple's Hondo main hall.34 views
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Crowd starts to gather for the bean throwing.34 views
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My lucky beans. The beans are in little plastic bags with a paper bottom.34 views
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Somon Gate, the first gate you pass through to enter the temple and one of the few structures which were not destroyed during World War II. 総門33 views
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Stone steps to the temple amid cherry blossoms. 此経難持坂33 views
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Pretty cold day, but it was sunny with little wind.33 views
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Ogre (oni) appear in a procession.33 views
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Incense burner33 views
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33 views
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The bean throwing was going to start at 3 pm. We stood in front of the platform at 2:15 pm. They sectioned off this area for kids (and elderly).33 views
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Statue of Nichiren 日蓮聖人像32 views
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Setsubun ceremonies on Feb. 3 start at 1 pm. Bean throwing (mamemaki) at 3 pm.32 views
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32 views
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Beating a drum-like instrument.32 views
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Bringing out large baskets of beans.32 views
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That's the temple's official mascot (Kozo-kun). 32 views
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Because of the temple's Rikidozan connection, there were a number of pro wrestlers as well. (No sumo wrestlers.)32 views
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They threw a lot of beans. I think just about everyone was able to catch beans.32 views
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Prayers inside the pagoda.31 views
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They entered the temple and held a service at 2 pm. 31 views
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31 views
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The beans included a square piece of caramel candy. The paper says "Lucky beans," "Setsubun," the name of the temple, and an ad for a local business.31 views
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Crowd goes home after setsubun.31 views
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Ikegami Station on the Tokyu Ikegami Line31 views
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31 views
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Everyone paraded to the temple and entered the temple for prayers, then dispersed. The lantern parade lasted from 6 pm till about 11 pm or so.31 views
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A spring ceremony is held in early April.30 views
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Taiko drummer30 views
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They will throw beans on both the left and right sides of the platform.30 views
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About 20 min. later, the place got full.30 views
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Ikegami Honmonji taiko drummers.30 views
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Prayers in the main worship hall.30 views
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Interacting with the crowd. They love foreigners and babies in the crowd. They let them beat their drum.30 views
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In front were two minor "idol" singers and a red oni. It was nice that they posted the names of the celebrities, but I didn't know any of them except one...29 views
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On Oct. 12, the annual Oeshiki Festival (お会式) was held at Ikegami Honmonji temple. It commemorates the anniversary of Nichiren's death. He died here in 1282.29 views
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Since most of Japan's big festivals are Shinto, it's nice to see a large-scale Buddhist festival.29 views
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Following the firemen's standards are musicians. The drummers are the most prominent. They beat handheld, fan-shaped taiko drums (called uchiwa daiko). Amazing how loud these little flat drums can be.29 views
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Each group is led by firemen's standards (matoi) which are poles with streamers. These were originally used by firemen's units in the Edo Period as their banner. Now used at festivals and for ceremonial purposes only.29 views
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28 views
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The festival's main event is an evening lantern parade (called Mando) of thousands of Nichiren believers from all over Japan. They come in groups according to their respective temple or district.28 views
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At the end of each group is a flowery (cherry blossoms) lantern float (called mando). It's a lantern pagoda with flowery streamers.28 views
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28 views
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Maybe about 300,000 spectators lined the streets from the train station to the temple.28 views
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28 views
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Marching priests.27 views
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Path to the temple.27 views
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