 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.349 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）277 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.273 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.252 views
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Map of temple grounds. There are both traditional and modern buildings.245 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.226 views
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Niomon Gate 仁王門（三門）189 views
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Ikegami Station platform on the Tokyu Ikegami Line185 views
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Inside Soshido Hall, view of left side. 大堂（祖師堂）184 views
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Hoto means "Treasure Tower." A beautiful building. Ikegami Honmonji, Tokyo 宝塔184 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）179 views
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大堂（祖師堂）165 views
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Ikegami Station on the Tokyu Ikegami Line which starts in Gotanda.165 views
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Incense burner148 views
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Soshido Hall altar 大堂（祖師堂）143 views
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Inside Soshido Hall, view of right side. 大堂（祖師堂）143 views
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Poster for the temple's spring festival which includes Hanamatsuri.143 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.134 views
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Side view of Soshido Hall. 大堂128 views
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Five-story Pagoda and cherry blossoms. 五重塔126 views
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Setsubun bean throwing at Ikegami Honmonji temple, Tokyo.124 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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Rikidozan's gravestone121 views
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White elephant for Hanamatsuri120 views
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Rikidozan's grave, the temple's most famous grave.117 views
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Matsumoto Iyo to throw beans for setsubun at Ikegami Honmonji temple, Tokyo.117 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. 116 views
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Priests procession heading for Ikegami Honmonji's main worship hall on Setsubun day, Feb. 3.115 views
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Setsubun at Ikegami Honmonji temple, Tokyo.114 views
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Boy priest sweeping at Ikegami Honmonji, Tokyo.113 views
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People line up to pour sweet tea over the baby buddha. 大堂112 views
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Back of Soshido Main Hall112 views
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Five-story Pagoda was another structure which escaped war damage. 五重塔112 views
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Rikidozan's grave106 views
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Roof of Soshido Main Hall 大堂104 views
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Sign pointing the way to wrestler Rikidozan's grave.100 views
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Five-story Pagoda built in 1607, Tokyo's oldest pagoda. 五重塔98 views
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Behind the pagoda are many graves.98 views
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Doors of Soshido Main Hall 大堂95 views
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Tea ceremony95 views
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Altar in Kyozo 経蔵91 views
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Graves near Hoto tower91 views
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Hoto tower built on the site where Nichiren was cremated. 宝塔90 views
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Marker for the temple.90 views
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Hanamatsuri parade89 views
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五重塔86 views
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宝塔86 views
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Hanamatsuri Parade on April 8, Buddha's birthday.85 views
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Nitchodo Hall 日朝堂84 views
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Car for Hanamatsuri84 views
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Ikegami Honmonji, Tokyo84 views
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Gate to Honden83 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83 views
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Honden Hall 本殿82 views
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Hanamatsuri Parade on April 8, Buddha's birthday.82 views
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Spring festival site with food and entertainment.81 views
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Hanamatsuri Parade on April 8, Buddha's birthday.81 views
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Bell tower 鐘楼堂80 views
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Kyozo houses Buddhist scriptures. 経蔵79 views
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Hoto tower 宝塔79 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.78 views
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Hoto tower 宝塔77 views
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Treasure House 霊宝殿76 views
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Honden and temple office on right. 本殿、客殿寺務所76 views
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Hanamatsuri Parade on April 8, Buddha's birthday.74 views
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Ikegami Station on the Tokyu Ikegami Line39 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.35 views
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On Feb. 3, Ikegami Honmonji holds the annual Setsubun ceremony and bean throwing.33 views
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Ogre (oni) appear in a procession.33 views
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Press cameramen behind us on their own platform to record the event.33 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32 views
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Stone steps to the temple amid cherry blossoms. 此経難持坂32 views
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Taiko drum performance in early April in front of the temple.32 views
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Pretty cold day, but it was sunny with little wind.32 views
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Incense burner32 views
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Matsumoto Iyo's place.32 views
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At 3 pm, the bean throwers appeared and took their positions after attending a ceremony inside the temple.32 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.32 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. 32 views
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In front of the station.32 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.31 views
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Beating a drum-like instrument.31 views
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Crowd starts to gather for the bean throwing.31 views
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Because of the temple's Rikidozan connection, there were a number of pro wrestlers as well. (No sumo wrestlers.)31 views
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They threw a lot of beans. I think just about everyone was able to catch beans.31 views
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My lucky beans. The beans are in little plastic bags with a paper bottom.31 views
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Crowd goes home after setsubun.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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Statue of Nichiren 日蓮聖人像30 views
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A spring ceremony is held in early April.30 views
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Prayers inside the pagoda.30 views
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Taiko drummer30 views
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Setsubun ceremonies on Feb. 3 start at 1 pm. Bean throwing (mamemaki) at 3 pm.30 views
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They entered the temple and held a service at 2 pm. 30 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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Bringing out large baskets of beans.30 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).30 views
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That's the temple's official mascot (Kozo-kun). 30 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.30 views
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Ikegami Station on the Tokyu Ikegami Line30 views
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About 20 min. later, the place got full.29 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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Prayers in the main worship hall.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 1282.28 views
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Since most of Japan's big festivals are Shinto, it's nice to see a large-scale Buddhist festival.28 views
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Ikegami Honmonji taiko drummers.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.27 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.27 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.27 views
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Marching priests.27 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.27 views
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Interacting with the crowd. They love foreigners and babies in the crowd. They let them beat their drum.27 views
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Path to the temple.26 views
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Maybe about 300,000 spectators lined the streets from the train station to the temple.25 views
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