Hōon-ji

photo by 663highland · CC BY-SA 4.0

photo by 663highland · CC BY-SA 4.0

Of the 499 eighteenth-century rakan, two are said to portray Marco Polo and Kublai Khan.

In the rakan hall, 499 wooden statues carved between 1731 and 1735 by nine sculptors who came from Kyoto look at the visitor, each with a different expression: some laugh, some sleep, some have a stern gaze. Local tradition has it that two of them, from their clothes and facial features, depict Marco Polo and Kublai Khan, and that among the five hundred you will always find one that looks like a relative who has passed away, or like yourself.

Sōtō Zen temple founded in 1362 and moved to its present site in Morioka in 1601, following the Nanbu clan. It is one of the ‘five great temples of Morioka’ (盛岡五山), and during the Edo period it was tasked with overseeing the monks of the region. The rakan are designated cultural properties of the municipality of Morioka.

ℹ️ Open 9:00–16:00. Admission 300¥ from junior high age upwards, 100¥ for elementary school children; discounts for groups of 40 people or more.

🚉 Kami-Morioka · 10 min walk

Sources: ja.wikipedia.org

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