Motsu-ji Temple in Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture is a part of the World Heritage Site of Japan, “Hiraizumi Temples, Gardens and Archeological Sites Representing the Buddhist Pure Land”, designated in 2011 by UNESCO.
According to a temple legend, Ennin who established Chuson-ji Temple also restablished Motsu-ji Temple in 850. Motsu-ji Temple belongs to the Tendai sect. After establishment, the temple was destroyed by fire. Motohira Fujiwara, the 2nd generation of Oshu Fujiwara family, his wife and Hidehira Fujiwara, the 3rd generation, rebuilt the temple with magnificent temple buildings. According to Azuma Kagami which was a medieval history book, the temple had more than forty temple buildings and more than five hundreds of zen halls and also had a golden hall, a lecture hall, a jogyodo hall, a main gate, a bell tower and a scripture house named Enryu-ji Temple, and there was also Kasho-ji Temple and its buildings. Its scale was greater than Chuson-ji Temple at that time.
For five years from 1954, the excavation was conducted in the precincts of Motsu-ji Temple and clarification of its scale and structure was completed. The garden of Pure Land is the symbol of Motsu-ji Temple. You can see its trace of the Pure Land Garden there.
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If you have a chance to visit Tohoku area, there is a pilgrimage course called “The Four-Temple Circuit”. The four temples consist of Chuson-ji Temple and Motsu-ji Temple in Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture, Zuigan-ji Temple in Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture and Risshaku-ji Temple (Yama-dera Temple) in Yamagata Prefecture. All four temples were established by Ennin and visited by Basho Matsuo. You can get temples’ red ink stamps with the name of the temple in calligraphy at those four temples. There is a special red ink stamp book designated for the Four-Temple Circuit. If you use the book and get all red ink stamps from all four temples, you may be able to get a special gift at the temple which you finally visit.
Please note that temple’s red ink stamp is not just a stamp. In the past, when people made a pilgrimage, they got the red ink stamp from the temple as an evidence of the action of offering your copied Buddhist scriptures by praying with all their hearts. It also means that the red ink stamp with the name of the temple in calligraphy is a part of the principal image of Buddha. It is quite holy and you should not stamp a commemorative stamp of a sightseeing spot that you can stamp when visiting the spot on the red ink stamp book.
There are many sightseeing spots in Tohoku area in Japan.
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