{Inter} Cultural Japan

Sambo-in, one of the subtemples of Daigoji, is so famous today for its garden, that the false impression is created that this is all there is to Daigoji. In fact, there is much more, more also than the beautiful pagoda and halls at the lower level. The true treasures of Daigoji are found in the temple’s museum with its weird esoteric statues, and in Upper Daigoji, at the top of the mountain, where the original temple was founded…

Legend stands at the beginning of Daigoji. A priest called Shobo (the later Rigen Daishi) was enticed to this mountain by the local guardian god, who sent a multicolored cloud down. After climbing the mountain, Shobo met the god who had taken on the form of an old man. A spring came bubbling out of the ground in front of his knees. The old man drank and exclaimed to Shobo: “The taste of Daigo!”

Daigo is a kind of ambrosia, an Indian sweet made from the extract of milk. At the same time, it is a metaphor for the teaching of the Buddha as contained in the Lotus sutra. This recommendation of the religious quality of the mountain’s water, prompted Shobo to build a meditation hut on the mountain. That was the origin of Daigoji, which took its name from the judgment about the spring water by the local god.

All this is, of course, simple legend. Fact is that Shobo founded the temple in 874, probably because he indeed discovered a spring of pure water on the mountain. The spring, Daigosui, is still there and the visitor can taste its water. Daigoji was greatly enhanced by the patronage of the Emperor Daigo (who took his name from the temple).

The main, spiritual part of the temple was on the mountain, where Shobo enshrined two Kannon statues he had carved. This was called Kami or Upper Daigo. At the foot of the mountain Shimo or Lower Daigo was laid out, for the ease of visitors and lay believers, as the way to Kami Daigo was - and is - a narrow, steep mountain path three kilometers long.

[Temple gate]

Lower Daigo
It is our second visit to Daigoji. When we came the first time, we only visited Lower Daigo, spending most of our time in the famous Sambo-in garden, but today we realize that we have not really seen Daigoji yet, as we have missed its spiritual center on the mountain. That is not to say Lower Daigo is without its interest.

Although the many civil wars from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries almost completely destroyed this part of the temple, one building miraculously survived the onslaught of the centuries. That is Daigoji’s five-storied pagoda, a 38-meter tall edifice dating from 951. It is the oldest building in Kyoto and one of the oldest pagodas in Japan. It is rare to find an original wooden structure that is so old - most temples are later rebuildings. When we today view the shrines and temples of Kyoto, we see Kyoto as it was rebuilt in the early seventeenth century, not how it was in Heian or Kamakura. That is also true of Sambo-in, Daigoji’s most famous subtemple.

Sambo-in was restored with support of the sixteenth century warlord Hideyoshi, who came to the temple for (of all things) a cherry-blossom viewing party in 1598. The then abbot, Gien, was able to diddle Hideyoshi out of the expensive promise to restore the badly damaged temple buildings. The parvenu warlord also supported the building of the Omote Shoin, the main building at Sambo-in, as well as the magnificent garden. The garden contains 700 rocks, set among ponds, small bushes and patches of moss and was built in a gorgeous style meant to delight the senses. It still serves as a showcase of Hideyoshi’s bragging and wealth.

The Fierce Gods
The ticket for Sambo-in also allows entrance to Daigoji’s Treasure Hall and building housing Buddhist statues. Both are only open for a short time in spring and autumn. All treasures inside are characteristic of esoteric Buddhism. There are statues and paintings of Fudo Myoo, sitting with a sword in one hand and a rope in the other, eyes bulging, teeth bared in a savage growl.

Fantastic sculptures of the Godai Myoo, the Five Kings, appear from blazing fires. Dai-itoku Myoo sits on a bull, four feet hanging to the sides of his mount, two in lotus position under his body. The other three kings have six or even eight arms, which grab spears, bows and arrows, and stand in threatening positions. The reality of Daigoji, we realize, is in this power and fury, rather than in the memory of a rich man’s flower viewing party.

It is time to climb to the real temple on the mountain. We skip the other buildings in Lower Daigo, such as the Main Hall, which originally did not belong to Daigoji but was added by Hideyoshi from another temple. We pass a pond with an attractive vermilion bridge and pavilion, but walk on, to the mountain path.

[The sacred well of Daigoji]

Upper Daigo
The forest stands quiet in the soft rain. The path gently slopes up the mountainside. Later there are steps, but the path has been made easy going for the pilgrims who visit the Kannon on the hill. It seems that the only people making the climb up the mountain are pilgrims on their way to Junteido, the Kannon Hall on the mountain that is part of the Thirty-three Kannon Circuit in Western Japan.

When we are close to the mountain top (the climb takes about an hour), we hear a monk hooting on a shell trumpet. The melancholy sound echoes through the valley. We find the Daigo Sui, Ambrosia Water, the spring that gave the temple its name. To its left stands the Seiryugu Haiden, a graceful, cypress-thatched prayer hall dedicated to the dragon-god of the spring.

Here a steep staircase leads to the Junteido, the hall dedicated to Kannon, where we pay our respects in the company of white-robed pilgrims. The bells they carry on the staffs tinkle behind us when we proceed to the Yakushido, the oldest hall at Upper Daigo. We peer through the slats in the door and try to make out the form of the Healing Buddha in the dusk of the closed hall.

At the very summit is the Nyoirindo (containing an image of the Nyoirin Kannon) and the Kaisando, dedicated to founder Rigen. Both - closed - halls date from 1608. Standing in front of them, we look out over the valley at our feet and enjoy the wide view of undulating green hills clad in patches of clouds and mist. The rain has stopped but the atmosphere is still wet.

[Upper Daigo]

Demons chasing Demons
Finally, we arrive at the Godairikido, a large chapel rebuilt in 1938 and dedicated to the fierce Five Myoo, the deities of Esoteric Buddhism we already met at the bottom of the mountain. We are back where we started, in the company of the esoteric gods who glare and scowl at us. Fist are clenched in rage, feet kick out menacingly. The statues here are less artistic than the ones in the museum, but all the more frightening in the lonely hall on the mountain top.

We are the only visitors and to placate the forces we confront, we offer candles and incense. And yet, these fiery demon-like gods are really the forces of good, who will trample down the evil in the world. It takes devils to catch devils. We only wish they would more often come down from their mountain, as there is a lot of work to be done.

We feel strangely purified when we descend the mountain, slowly choosing our steps through vapors and mist, in the light that gradually falters.

Access: Bus 12 from Keihan Sanjo Bus Terminal to Daigo Sambo-in-mae (35 min).
Hours: Sambo-in: 9:00-16:00, no photography allowed. Hojuin (Treasure House): 9:00-16:00, only open from April 1-May 25 and Oct.1-Nov 23, except Nov. 1 (but check as dates may vary). Shimo Daigo: small fee charged in the daytime. The buildings can not be entered. Kami Daigo: grounds free. The buildings can not be entered, except part of the Junteido (Kannon Hall) and Godaido.