Hello everyone
Hello
Welcome to Nippon Zenkoku Hajimaru Studio
Ｗhere are we starting from?
We are visiting Zuiryuji temple today
Zuiryuji temple?
This is great
Its temple gate and public chamber are designated as national treasures
Also, there are a whole lot of important cultural properties
Now we are in the national treasure Zuiryuji temple
The chief priest is with us today
Let me introduce the chief priest now
It’s nice to meet you
Nice to meet you
We are highly grateful to have you with us
(Chief priest: Mr. Doko Yotsuya)
No problem
Please turn around
and see our main gate, temple gate, Buddhist sanctum and public chamber
that are beautifully standing in a straight line
Temples are usually built in mountain areas
But Zuiryuji was built on flat land, which makes its beauty stand out even more
We're hoping to restore the temple to its original state with 7 buildings like this
There used to be a bathtub and a toilet at sides
As viewed from above, it looks like a shape of Buddha
Ho...
The innermost public chamber is his head
Buddhist sanctum and priest's quarters are his hands
and his legs are supposed to be where a toilet and a bathtub existed
But his legs are missing
That’s right
That makes sense
Yes, indeed
Zuiryuji was built as feudal lord Maeda’s family temple
Maeda served Oda and Toyotomi and ultimately acted as a guardian of Hideyori Toyotomi
Load Maeda built this outstanding temple in Takaoka
And there was likely something else behind it
Since Maida was a tozama daimyo
there were many “Onmitsu” in Kanazawa to watch them secretly
Aha
Do you know what “Onmitsu” is?
Spy, isn’t it?
That’s right
It’s not “Danmitsu” (name of a Japanese actress)
Not “Danmitsu”, what a letdown
Same here
There could be a “Onmitsu” like “Danmitsu, though
You can say that again
Being watched, Maeda had to behave properly in Kanazawa
Although Kanazawa blossomed as cultural city
there were certain things Maeca still needed to take care of
Military and economic stabilization were essential although they couldn’t stand out
So Maeda had to hide them to some extent
If Maeda had shown off his power
someone would’ve suspected him to be a rebel after all
Therefore, Maeda kept a low profile to protect themselves
Maeda acted smartly, keeping a certain distance from Tokugawa
Since there was the law of one castle per province, they couldn’t have another castle at that time
Dividing their domain to Toyama and Daishoji allowed them to have one castle respectively
However, satellite domains were excluded from such cases
But they still wanted to have another castle
That’s why they decided to build a temple instead
Heh... I got it
We believe that Zuiryuji was meant to be a temple and a castle at the same time
I see
Please come this way
This is awesome
You can see the temple gate and there is the fierce guardian god on each side to protect this temple
The buddhist sanctum is taken into consideration to create this scenery
Standing on this stone path, you can enjoy the impressive view
The average height of men at that time was 160cm or so
Like this
Yes
It comes right in the middle
I know
Awesome
When a camera zooms in like that, the building appears very close
That’s how it works
Now I know
Amazing
This is a very interesting part
When you enter the temple gate
you will see a lawn yard while the garden outside is covered in white sand
You’re right
There was no Japanese lawn grass like this 360 years ago
however, the Agency for Cultural Affairs advised us to do so and make the garden look more beautiful
The cloister is 59m wide and 95m long
It was designed using the golden ratio
Looking at a garden like this, you can feel a peace of mind
The paper doors are very different from the original ones in terms of design
One paper door comes with a couple of shutters
One paper door and two shutters… right
When a paper door is moved halfway on a clear day
the contrast of light and dark will appear just like white and black
Simple, but that’s a style of Japanese aesthetics
That’s how Japanese people in history defined beauty
It’s a great way to apply aesthetics
Very much so
It’s got function and good appearance
Exactly
This is the Buddhist sanctum roofed with lead tiles
Lead tiles!
Zuiryuji temple and Kanazawa Castle are only buildings that have such roofs today
Wow
We are standing in the center of the temple grounds
This is the Buddhist sanctum of Zuiryuji temple dedicated to Gautama Buddha
Manjusri and Samantabhadra are standing at sides
Manjusri associated with wisdom holds a scripture on a wise lion
And Samantabhadra represents warmth and practice
So he rides on a gentle and strong elephant
An elephant, right
This building is all-cypress
The latticed ceiling is surrounded by fan rafters and others
You’re right, incredible
Maeda was a tozama daimyo
but they had brilliant skills and a wonderful sense of beauty different to Tokugawa
Something like this shows Maeda’s identity
Oh, I understand
Awesome
There is a round pillar here which is very solid
It means the tree grew slowly
This one came from Mt. Sekido in Noto
It is a dense and dark mountain area where tree thinning hardly takes place
Ah, I see
Unproductive soil does not allow trees to grow fast, either
But slow-growing trees can become great pillars like this
Japanese zelkova is a wolf tree
Since this pillar stands straight, it was obviously a very thick and big tree in the mountain
The public chamber is located in the innermost part of Zuiryuji temple
The public chamber.
Yes
Please face the front to see the big spirit tablet enshrined
Yes
It is for lord Toshinaga Maeda
The height is about 2.1m
Oh, right
Don’t you feel anything funny about this spirit tablet?
This is a temple
I know
Do you know what should usually sit in front of temples?
Buddha statue
That’s right
We have the Gautama Buddha in the Buddhist sanctum
But at usual head temples, a statue of the Goddess of Kannon comes in the middle
and a spirit tablet is placed beside it
He was a lord
But he was still a layman, not a Buddhist priest
Placing his spirit tablet in the middle was unlikely meant to be for his soul
it was most likely for people to worship him as a God
Please look at the latticed ceiling and diamond paved floor
The pillar is made of Japanese zelkova from here
The chamfering part is interesting
This one is simply planed off
But another one is rather jagged-shaped
What I’m trying to say is, this area was considered as a sanctuary at that time
The latticed ceiling was a part of sanctuary as well
although we can enter here with no problem now
Banned to enter?
It used to be like that
Heh!
If you stand here and see the spirit tablet, you’ll get the picture
The top is not in sight, though
I told you earlier at the temple gate that you can see the Buddhist sanctum through it
The lord and the master carpenter beautifully designed the gate by use of the scenery around it
But you cannot see the top from here
Considering this area as a sanctuary, we assume that someone came here to sit here
Lord Toshitsune Maeda sat here with tremendous respect for his father to see the spirit tablet
The size of this spirit tablet should make sense when you sit here and see it
You can see it perfectly from here
Right
We assume that the 3rd Maeda lord sat here
placing his knees, hands and forehead on the ground to show utmost respect for the 2nd lord
There are a couple of lacquered round pillars
and a transom made of paulownia wood with a Chinese phoenix engraved
Seeing from here, can you guess what they represent?
It’s something related to shrines
Sacred arch
You’ll recognize it immediately only if someone gives you a hint
That’s very true
I told you earlier that Zuiryuji is a temple but also a castle
In fact, there is another side of it
What they really wanted to have was a shrine dedicated to Toshinaga
hm...
That can be considered as well, which is something related to what I’m going to show you later
Please come this way
