Interview with Chief Priest Motoyama Kaihan
We spoke with Motoyama Kaihan, the chief priest of Kisshoin.
We heard that Kisshoin plans to hold various gatherings.
Chief Priest Motoyama
With the hope that not only parishioners but all participants will “enjoy life,” we hold welcoming gatherings that anyone can attend.
- Goeika chanting class (second Thursday of the month, 7 p.m.)
- Children’s tracing Buddha images and copying sutras group; adults’ tracing Buddha images and copying sutras group (second Saturday of the month, 5 p.m.)
The children’s tracing Buddha images and copying sutras group is for elementary school students. The adults’ group is attended mainly by homemakers, as well as older people, and everyone traces Buddha images with great concentration.
The completed traced Buddha images are displayed in the guest hall once a year for local residents to view.
Why are there photographs of the Mizushima Industrial Complex in the guest hall?
Chief Priest Motoyama
These photographs show Takashima, which is still visible to the west of Kisshoin, as it was when it was once an island and how it changed into an industrial area after being reclaimed.
Every year, second-grade students from a local elementary school come to Kisshoin for a “town exploration.” I often see them looking surprised as they look at the photographs, which seem to help them understand. I hope they will learn about their local area and cherish it.
There is also a tree called a tarayo beside the main hall. When I tell elementary school students that scratching the underside of its leaves leaves a black mark, and that the leaves were once used as letters, they are surprised.
I hear that Kisshoin has some unusual Buddhist paintings.
Chief Priest Motoyama
This Buddhist painting is a sutra-calligraphy Buddhist painting by Yamamoto Kanji.
This is an extremely rare technique in which about 13,000 characters from sutras are joined together to form a single line depicting Dainichi Nyorai.
Other works dedicated to Kisshoin include Kannon Bosatsu and the Eight Patriarchs, making these valuable Buddhist paintings. I hear that works have also been dedicated to Horinji Temple in the city.
Could you tell us about the annual events planned for the future?
Chief Priest Motoyama
There are four annual events planned.
- Night of December 31
New Year’s Eve Bell Ringing and Year-End Thanksgiving Festival - February 3
Setsubun Festival: Prayers are offered for those who apply for a talisman. - May 8
Flower Festival for the Buddha’s Birthday - Second Saturday in November
Grand Festival for the Guardian Inari
At Kisshoin, we hope that not only parishioners but many people will visit and leave feeling happy. You can ring the New Year’s Eve bell, so please come and pay your respects.
I hear it has become difficult to ring the New Year’s Eve bell these days. You can do that here, then?
Chief Priest Motoyama
Many people visit on New Year’s Eve because this is a temple where you can ring the bell, something that has become difficult to do in recent years. The New Year’s Eve bell-ringing and first shrine visit event, called the “Year-End Thanksgiving Festival,” has continued for more than 40 years.
The first strike begins at 11:45 p.m., after which participants take turns striking the bell once every 20 seconds. Those who strike it at the exact moment the year changes (12:00:00 a.m.) win the “exact-time prize,” and prizes are also prepared for those who strike just before or after.
For the first visit of the year, prayers are offered with the Daihannya Sutra, and the first goma fire ritual is held at the guardian Inari shrine from around 1 a.m., praying for everyone’s good health and long life free from illness.
As usual, zodiac-themed decorative paper and round votive plaques are also available, so please take one home as a memento of your first visit of the year.
We also support students taking entrance exams by giving them items such as pentagonal votive plaques and pentagonal pencils, which symbolize success.
This year, for the first time, we have also prepared a “non-slip amulet.”
It is an amulet for success in exams, made with the hope that students will overcome adversity and hardship like a carp streamer and climb the wall to the top using non-slip powder. It is available for 500 yen each.
The “non-slip amulet” was made in collaboration with Sanyo Clay Industry, which produces climbing chalk from farmed oyster shells in Okayama Prefecture, and Tokunaga Koinobori, an Okayama Prefecture carp streamer manufacturer.
The pouch, shaped like an oyster, is sewn from the high-quality fabric used for carp streamers and filled with a capsule containing climbing chalk.
From the Writer
Throughout the temple, I could feel the spirit of hospitality behind the head priest’s words: “We want many people to visit and leave feeling happy.”
As events open to the public are planned from New Year’s Eve through the New Year, I encourage not only local residents but everyone to come and pay their respects.
Kisshoin Temple Information
| Name | Kisshoin Temple |
|---|---|
| Other name | Iozan Jofukuji Kisshoin Temple |
| Sect | Omuro School of Shingon Buddhism |
| Location | 2349 Shionasu, Kojima, Kurashiki City |
| Contact | 086-475-0758 |
| Parking | Available There is a second parking lot in addition to the one below the temple gate. The second parking lot can accommodate 9 vehicles (including kei cars). |
| Principal image | Bhaisajyaguru (Medicine Buddha) |
| Blessing | Peace of mind for those who enter through the temple gate; happiness for those who leave. |
| Goshuin (offering for copying sutras) | Numbers 36 and 37 of the 88 temples of Kojima; a goshuin for Kisshoin Temple alone is also available. Offering for copying sutras: 200 yen. |
| Visiting hours | Please feel free to visit at any time. |
| Closed | None |
| Admission | No admission fee is required. |
| How to pay admission and sutra-copying offerings | Please place the offering for copying sutras in the Jizo statue in front of the temple gate. It makes a pleasant sound. |
| Restroom | Available |
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