{{Short description|Buddhist temple in Saitama Prefecture, Japan}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2012}} {{Coord|35|55|03.09|N|139|29|20.64|E|display=title}} {{Infobox religious building | name = Kita-in<br>喜多院 | native_name = 星野山無量寿寺喜多院 | image = Kawagoe Kitain Tahoto 202011.jpg | alt = | caption = ''[[Tahōtō]]'' | map_type = | map_size = | map_alt = | map_caption = | location = 1-20-1 Kosenba-machi, Kawagoe, Saitama | coordinates = | religious_affiliation = [[Tendai]] | deity = [[Amitābha|Amida Nyorai]] | country = Japan | functional_status = | website = {{Official website|http://www.kawagoe.com/kitain/index.html}} {{in lang|ja}} | founded_by = Ennin | year_completed = 7th year of the [[Tenchō]] Era (830 AD) }} {{Nihongo|'''Seiya-san Muryōshuji Kita-in'''|星野山無量寿寺喜多院}} is a [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] temple located in the city of [[Kawagoe, Saitama|Kawagoe]] in [[Saitama Prefecture]], [[Japan]]. It is noted for its [[Main Hall (Japanese Buddhism)|main hall]], which was part of the original [[Edo Castle]], and the statues of 540 [[Arhat (Buddhism)|Rakan]], disciples of the [[Buddha]]. It is also known informally as the {{nihongo|'''Kawagoe Daishi'''|川越大師||}}.
== Origins and history == Kita-in is believed to have been founded in 830 AD by the monk [[Ennin]] under the orders of [[Emperor Junna]], with the name {{nihongo3|temple of unending life|無量寿寺|Muryōju-ji}}, Muryōju being another name for [[Amitabha Buddha]], the main object of worship.<ref name="kitain">Kita-in English pamphlet</ref> The [[Tendai]] temple was then divided in three parts called {{nihongo3|northern temple|北院|Kita-in}}, {{nihongo3|middle temple|中院|Naka-in}} and {{nihongo3|south temple|南院|Minami-in}}.<ref name="kitain"/><ref>The suffix is normally used for minor temples or subtemples.</ref> Naka-in is now a separate temple, and of Minami-in there remains only a cemetery.
Burned down during a war in 1202, it was rebuilt in 1296 under [[Emperor Fushimi]] and nominated a head temple of the Tendai sect in 1300 by [[Emperor Go-Fushimi]], with control over 580 temples in eastern Japan.
It achieved its greatest fame and influence under the priest [[Tenkai]] and was patronized by the first three [[Tokugawa clan|Tokugawa]] shōguns [[Tokugawa Ieyasu|Ieyasu]], [[Tokugawa Hidetada|Hidetada]], and [[Tokugawa Iemitsu|Iemitsu]]. Such was Tenkai's influence that when Kita-in burned in 1638, Iemitsu transferred part of [[Edo Castle]] to Kita-in. Because the castle burned during the [[1923 Great Kantō earthquake|Great Kantō earthquake]] of 1923, Kita-in contains the only extant structures from the original Edo Castle. These structures contain the reception rooms, study, kitchen, toilet and bathroom that Iemitsu used, as well as the actual room where Iemitsu is believed to be born in. Also contained is the dressing room used by his wet-nurse [[Lady Kasuga|Kasuga no Tsubone]] who became mistress of the inner palace of Edo Castle.<ref>Moriyama, p. 40</ref> It was at that time that Kita-in replaced Naka-in as the most influential of the three temples. In the same period, the Chinese character in its name was replaced with the present ones, to mean great happiness.<ref name="kitain"/> The temple was also patronized by the ''[[daimyō]]'' of [[Kawagoe Domain]].
What is today [[Ueno, Tokyo|Ueno]]'s [[Kan'ei-ji]] [[Main Hall (Japanese Buddhism)|main hall]] was taken from Kita-in and transferred to the site of a former Kan'ei-ji subtemple.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ueno|url=http://tokyo-tokyo.com/Ueno.htm|publisher=Tokyo.com|accessdate=September 6, 2010}}</ref>
== Features == * Reception Hall – Constructed in the 15th year of the [[Kan'ei]] era (1638) as part of Edo Castle. The room itself is the birthplace of Tokugawa Iemitsu. The building is a [[Important Cultural Property (Japan)|National ICP]]. * Wriitin Hall – Constructed in the 16th year of the Kan'ei era (1639) as part of Edo castle, it contains the private quarters of [[Lady Kasuga]] (National ICP). * Priest's Quarters – Constructed in the 15th year of the Kan'ei era (1638). (National ICP) * The [[sanmon]] was constructed in the 9th year of the Kan'ei era (1632). (National ICP) * [[Shōrō]] – Constructed in the 15th year of the [[Genroku]] era (1702). (National ICP) * Jigen-do - a chapel to the priest Tenkai, built in 1645 (National ICP) * [[Senba Tōshō-gū]] enshrining the spirit of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Destroyed in the fire of 1638 which burned the rest of the temple, it was rebuilt in 1640 by order of Tokugawa Iemitsu with a structure closely resembling [[Nikkō Tōshō-gū]].<ref name="kitain"/> (National ICP) * A [[tahōtō]], a Japanese type of pagoda. * Behind the main hall are the graves of five [[Matsudaira clan]] ''[[daimyō]]s'' who ruled [[Kawagoe Domain]] during the 18th and 19th centuries. * Next to the entrance stand the statues of 540 disciples of Buddha known as the {{Nihongo|500 ''[[Arhat|rakan]]''|五百羅漢|Go-hyaku rakan}}. Carved between 1782 and 1825, they portray the disciples in a great variety of positions, so that no two are alike.<ref>[http://www.kawagoe.com/kitain/english/index.html Kitain] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023171158/https://www.kawagoe.com/kitain/english/index.html |date=October 23, 2018 }} (Retrieved on March 22, 2009)</ref>
<gallery widths="154px" heights="200px" perrow="5" caption="Some of the 500 [[Arhat|Rakan]] at Kitain"> File:Gohyaku Rakan.jpg File:Kitain-2121.jpg File:Kitain-2155.jpg File:Kitain-2007.jpg </gallery>
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
==References== * Moriyama, T. (1998). "Weekend Adventures Outside of Tokyo," Shufunotomo Co. Ltd., Tokyo Japan, {{ISBN|4-07-975049-8}}. * [http://www.kawagoe.com/kitain/english/index.html Kita-in web site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023171158/https://www.kawagoe.com/kitain/english/index.html |date=October 23, 2018 }} {{in lang|en}} *Kita-in's English pamphlet retrieved on December 12, 2010
==External links== {{Commons category|Kitain}} * [http://www.kawagoe.com/kitain/index.html Kita-in] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809131520/http://www.kawagoe.com/kitain/index.html |date=August 9, 2019 }} {{in lang|ja}} * [http://www.kawagoe.com/kitain/english/index.html Kita-in] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023171158/https://www.kawagoe.com/kitain/english/index.html |date=October 23, 2018 }} {{in lang|en}}
{{Buddhist temples in Japan}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kita-In}} [[Category:Buddhist temples in Saitama Prefecture]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Kawagoe, Saitama]] [[Category:Tendai temples]] [[Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in 1639]] [[Category:Tangible Cultural Properties of Saitama Prefecture]]