Spiritual home and prayer place on the mountain
The Yakuoin Temple, officially known as Takaosan Yakuoin Yukiji Temple, is one of the Daihonzan temples of the Chizan School of the Shingon sect. This temple, believed to have been built in 744 by Gyoki Bosatsu under decree from Emperor Shomu, is dedicated to the Medicine Bhudda, Yakushi Nyorai. This era, the Nara Period, was the most magnificent in ancient Japanese history. It was during this time that the Great Buddha Hall of the Todaiji Temple and other important historical structures were erected in Nara, and a provincial monastery, known as a Kokubunji, was established in each of Japan's 60-odd provinces. Gyoki Bosatsu played a central role in the construction of all these temples.
Ancient documents preserved on Mt. Takao The Yakuoin Temple was damaged in a fire in 1504 and again by a fire in 1677, which caused extensive damage to Yakushido (Hall of the Yakushi Nyorai). Later, in 1717, a typhoon caused the stupa and the temple's five-storey pagoda to collapse. In 1929, another fire destroyed the temple's kyakuden (guest hall), shoin (study), and kuri (kitchen). In spite of these calamities, more than 2,500 documents, dating back to the Japanese Middle Ages, have survived and still remain at the temple. Documents containing information about the beliefs prevalent during the Warring States and Edo periods and about the temple's sphere of influence during those times offer insights into the relationship between the temple and the community. A research team from Hosei University, headed by Professor Murakami, exhaustively studied these documents at the temple for 12 years. According to their findings, Takao, which had been flourishing as a sacred place of ancient mountain worship, had become an important area for supplying timber used for the construction of castles and other structures during the Warring States Period. During the Edo Period, feudal lords respected and revered the temple and it even became a place of worship for the Kii branch of the Tokugawa clan. There are 304 documents dealing with the Kii family alone. As Shogun Yoshimune is a native of Kii Province, it is possible that the famous magistrate, Ooka Echizen, also visited the temple.
