Kawazu's great temple, "Narandaji Temple" ~MAR,2025~

I booked a hotel in Izu with the intention of seeing the Kawazu cherry blossoms, but it seems I was completely off-timing, as the cherry blossoms along the Kawazu River had almost all fallen. I was thwarted and just as I was driving around wondering where to go, I saw a sign pointing to the Buddhist statue exhibition hall, which led me to the "Izu Naranda no Sato Kawazu Heian no Sato Buddhist Statue Exhibition Hall." The exhibition includes the remains of a large temple complex dating back to the Nara period and a group of Buddhist statues, and Mr. Sato, who is in charge of the exhibition, gave me a detailed explanation.

It is located in the mountains, a short distance up the tributary of the Kawazu River, but after parking the car in a small parking lot at the foot of the mountain and climbing a steep slope for 5-6 minutes, I arrived at the exhibition hall. From the temple grounds, you can see the Izu Kyuko trains going back and forth to Shimoda.

A major earthquake in 1432 caused a mountain tsunami in the area, and the temple and Buddhist statues were washed away by a mudslide, and were buried in what is now called Hutsugatani. Many monks lived there at the time, but you can still view the few Buddhist statues that were preserved, including the principal image, and those that were excavated from the ground. Naranda Temple, which had existed since the Nara period, was abandoned at this time.

A little over 100 years later (in 1541), the priest Nanzen from Shoko-in Temple in Kamakura, who had come to the hot springs for a medical treatment, built a hall here, enshrined these Buddha statues, and the temple came to be called Nanzen-ji. This was the year that Hojo Ujiyasu inherited the family headship, and Izu was a time of relative political stability.

What is surprising is the historical background of the group of Buddhist statues, with a row of single-piece sculptures made of Kaya wood from the Nara to early Heian periods (8th to 10th centuries) and the discovery of a hair-snail of a clay statue of Nyorai during an investigation in 2012, which made it clear that this is a large-scale Nara Buddhist temple. Buddhist statues generally changed from slender to plump in shape from the Asuka to Heian periods, and the Eleven-Headed Kannon Standing Statue (Nara) certainly seems to belong to that transitional period.

The port of ancient Okuizu was Yatsu Port (Kawazu), and there were no Inatori or Shimoda. The provincial capital of Izu, Kokubunji, was located in present-day Mishima, but Kawazu was important as a transit point on the sea route not only to Izu but also to the eastern provinces, and it is believed that a large government temple was built there for that purpose. There are remains from the Paleolithic period in Kawazu, where obsidian has been found that was brought from Kozushima, 60km to the south. People have lived there for a long time, and it seems likely that trade by boat was active there (Kozushima obsidian stratum).

The statues at Naranda were brought here from Nara, and they exude the same solemnity as the statues worshipped at Kofuku-ji Temple. Last year, 26 statues, including damaged ones, were designated as Important Cultural Properties. Meanwhile, after the Kamakura period, the production of Buddhist statues became popular in the Kanto region, starting with Hojo Tokimasa, who invited Unkei to Ganjoju-in Temple to create statues. In Kannami Town, the Kannami Buddha Village Museum has collected Buddhist statues that have long been treasured by local people. While they are not all superstars, they are heartwarming Buddhas. Izu is a small country, but it is blessed with many relics.

Nanzenji Temple was later managed by a nearby Shugendo temple called Tohoin, but as a temple run by mountain ascetics, it did not have a stable income and had to cover its maintenance costs by selling off precious Buddhist statues piece by piece. A total of 20-30 Buddhist statues are said to have been scattered, and one of them, the "Standing Statue of Priest Hoji" at Saio-ji Temple in Kyoto, is designated as an Important Cultural Property. There are still many fragments of Buddhist statues at Nanzenji Temple, and many of them are thought to have been scattered or buried in the valley. I hope that the excavation work will continue slowly and carefully so that they can be passed on to future generations.

In Kawazu, there is Seisokuji Temple, which was built at the end of the Kamakura period and is known as the Kappa Temple. It is said that the head priest once helped a kappa and received a jar as a thank you. There are many beautiful red seals on display, so if you like collecting red seals, I highly recommend it.