Pictures of
Kinkaizan Dion Kuji
Sometime
between 1995 and 1997, when I was at Bushidokai in Groton,
CT, Sensei Lynn Kelch visited Kinkaizan Dion Kuji, the temple
on Kyushu, Japan where Kosho Shorei Ryu was created. While
he was there, he took many photographs of the temple, and
also Kumamoto castle. I have picked out a few of the 86
photos that he took while there and have scanned them and
put them here for you to see. The captions are based on
my memory of his descriptions of what the pictures are about
from 1995 -1997, so please forgive any inaccuracies from
poor memory.
By
the way, if you are not familiar with the history of Kinkaizan
Dion Kuji, here is some basic information I got from LoPriore
Shihan. Sometime between 781 and 806, a famous monk from
Kyushu healed Emperor Kanmu Tenno. In gratitude, the emperor
gave him the title Shozen Daishi and money and the land
to build Kinkaizan Dion Kuji. The original temple was constructed
between 799 and 804 AD. At around 1235 AD, a warrior monk
meditated under a tree and received an inspiration which
caused him to develop Kosho Shorei Ryu. In 1588, Yukinaga
Konishi, the daimyo of Kumamoto, attacked the temple destroying
75 priest's houses and 49 branch temples. He sent 5,000
Samaurai bushi to kill only 400 defending monks. Later,
Kato Kiyamasa killed Yukinaga Konishi, and his son, Kato
Tadahiro rebuilt the temple in 1620. We are told that the
attack on the main temple was only partially successful,
as the main buildings and many artifacts were saved from
destruction. Also it is said that the old pine tree that
the art was conceived under was saved.
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