The Maker Speaks
Koryu-ji
Shows the Boshin War in Silence
Shows the Boshin War in Silence
Recent youngsters almost don't know what the Boshin war is. I heard some old deplore like thus. I don't mean every youngster completely has no knowledge about the war. The younger they are, the more unpopular it becomes in Japan. I think so.
We can go on without any knowledge about the Boshin war. I agree with you. Knowledge about the war won't help your work like operating a cash register in a supermarket. However, I guess you cannot what the Koryu-ji silently means without knowledge about the Boshin war.
Let me explain what the war is for a while!
In the end of the Edo era, some groups of the West Japan like Yamaguchi and Kagoshima carried out a coup d'état against the then government in 1868, built a new government in 1869. The domestic war is called Boshin war. Sadly, Abe Shinzo is the Prime Minister of Japan government today. His grandfather Kishi Shinsuke was a great statesman who had worked as the Prime Minister and a CIA agent, originally from Yamaguchi. Japanese politics can't be unconnected with the Boshin war yet.
What is the Koryu-ji temple, then?
It is a temple of the Sōtō school in Hakodate, Hokkaido. Built in 1633, however originally in a different place within Hakodate. The Boshin war made the temple move to the recent address.
Hakodate is the final stage of the Boshin war. Ex Koryu-ji had been as a hospital space for the defeated army at the time. The new government army launched an all-out attack on the temple one day. That made it burn to ashes with a lot of the wounded in 1869. Soon, the war met the end.
In 1879, Koryu-ji was rebuilt in today's address.
I can say the Koryu-ji is not just a temple of the Sōtō school, but also what bridges before-and-after of the war. I cannot help feeling the historical significance. Today again, the Koryu-ji is standing there in Hakodate, itself silently tells us the Boshin war.
We can go on without any knowledge about the Boshin war. I agree with you. Knowledge about the war won't help your work like operating a cash register in a supermarket. However, I guess you cannot what the Koryu-ji silently means without knowledge about the Boshin war.
Let me explain what the war is for a while!
In the end of the Edo era, some groups of the West Japan like Yamaguchi and Kagoshima carried out a coup d'état against the then government in 1868, built a new government in 1869. The domestic war is called Boshin war. Sadly, Abe Shinzo is the Prime Minister of Japan government today. His grandfather Kishi Shinsuke was a great statesman who had worked as the Prime Minister and a CIA agent, originally from Yamaguchi. Japanese politics can't be unconnected with the Boshin war yet.
What is the Koryu-ji temple, then?
It is a temple of the Sōtō school in Hakodate, Hokkaido. Built in 1633, however originally in a different place within Hakodate. The Boshin war made the temple move to the recent address.
Hakodate is the final stage of the Boshin war. Ex Koryu-ji had been as a hospital space for the defeated army at the time. The new government army launched an all-out attack on the temple one day. That made it burn to ashes with a lot of the wounded in 1869. Soon, the war met the end.
In 1879, Koryu-ji was rebuilt in today's address.
I can say the Koryu-ji is not just a temple of the Sōtō school, but also what bridges before-and-after of the war. I cannot help feeling the historical significance. Today again, the Koryu-ji is standing there in Hakodate, itself silently tells us the Boshin war.
Torin-ji
What Does the Southern Temple Speak in Silence?
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The Old Temple in Tokyo, with Tokugawa Iemitsu?
