017.高田 04.浄興寺
017.Takada 04.Joko-ji Temple (Japan)

2023年2月5日

高田には、雁木以外にも魅力的な建築がありますが、系統立っておらず、大きな観光資源となりにくいのが難点。

その一つが、寺町にある浄興寺。

In addition to Gangi, there are other attractive architectures in Takada. But they are miscellaneous, so they are not easy to become a tourist attraction.One of them is Joko-ji Temple in the temple district.

本堂の内陣を見る。金箔と赤銅箔のまばゆい空間。
See the dazzling Naijin (inner sanctuary) with gold leaf and red lacquer applied on silver leaf.

浄興寺は、親鸞が1224年に創建し、その頂骨を納め、東西本願寺には、ここから分骨したという由緒ある寺。大正４年（1915年）の大火で、ほとんどの建物が焼け、以前の建物は、国の重要文化財の本堂と親鸞の頂骨を納める親鸞聖人本廟のみ。だから、期待せずに立ち寄りましたが、そこに大火後に再建された拝堂を加えた３つの建築の対比が、地味ながらすばらしい。

新潟で最大の寺院建築、入母屋造の本堂は、阿弥陀経の極楽を再現した場所。ほの暗い外陣に入ると、その奥には、金箔と、銀箔の上に漆を塗った赤銅箔によるまばゆい内陣が広がります。外界から閉ざされ、時間の変化も消えた中、闇の中から極楽が現れたような神々しい場所。新潟の金色堂と呼びたい。

一方、本堂と庫裏を結ぶ歩廊の中間に取り付くのが拝堂。親鸞聖人本廟の正面に位置し、そこを拝む場所。歩廊の屋根を土庇に利用し、２間四方の、４面がガラス張りの祈りの空間で、親鸞聖人だけでなく、外界の気配、そして、時間や季節変化という現世も感じながら、生の中で祈るような温かみのある場所。

「暗がりの中の救いの光」と、「明るさの中の包み込む光」。「内と外を隔てた空間」と、「内と外を隔てない空間」。「永遠の時間の中にいる空間」と、「季節や時間の移ろいに鋭敏な空間」。隣り合う対極的な存在が、世界の多様さを表現するようです。今まで訪れた寺院では見たことのない祈りの場でした。

Joko-ji temple is a historic temple that Shinran, the famous religious leader, founded in 1224. It enshrined his crown bones, and his ashes were dispersed from here to East and West Hongan-ji temples representing Kyoto. Most buildings were destroyed in a great fire in 1915, leaving only the main hall designated as a national important cultural property, and Shinran Shonin Honbyo mausoleum, which houses Shinran's crest bones. I visited without expecting anything, but the contrast between the three buildings, including the chapel rebuilt after the great fire, was restrained but wonderful.

The main hall is the largest temple building in Niigata prefecture. It reproduces the paradise of the Amida Sutra. In the center of the dark interior space called the Gezin (outer sanctuary), the dazzling Naijin (inner sanctuary) with gold leaf and red lacquer applied on silver leaf spreads out. In the interior closed from the outside world, a divine place where the change of time has disappeared, as if paradise has appeared from the darkness. I would like to call it the Golden Hall in Niigata prefecture for the famous Golden Hall in Iwate prefecture.

The worship hall is in the middle of the corridor that connects the main hall and the temple kitchen. It faces Shinran Shonin Honbyo mausoleum and is a place to worship it. The roof of the corridor is used as eaves of the mausoleum, and four sides are glass-enclosed prayer space of 2 square meters. It is a warm place to pray.

”The light of salvation in the darkness” and ”the light to be enveloped in the brightness”. ”A space that separates the inside and the outside” and ”a space that does not separate the inside and the outside”. ”A space in eternal time” and ”a space sensitive to the changing seasons and time”. Opposite existences are adjacent. That seems to express the diversity of the world. It was a place of prayer, which I had never seen before in any of the temples.

本堂 / Main Hall