Shimotsuke Yakushiji Temple ruins

Located in Yakushiji, Shimotsuke City, Tochigi Prefecture, this is the site of one of the most important government temples in the eastern part of Japan. During the Nara period, one of the three Japanese ordination platforms was placed here, and it is also famous as the temple where the monk Dokyo was exiled. The temple's name is recorded in official Japanese histories such as the Shoku Nihongi, but there are various theories about when it was founded, including during the reigns of Tenchi, Tenmu, and Monmu, and the date of its founding is unclear. However, six excavations were carried out between 1966 and 1971, and elegant eaves tiles with eight-petaled lotus patterns and double-curved patterns similar to those of Kawaradera Temple in Yamato were unearthed. This makes the theory that it was founded around the reign of Tenmu (673-686) more likely. The four perimeters are divided by walls, measuring 252 meters east to west and just over 340 meters north to south. A gate is placed halfway between the east and west sides, and the south gate, middle gate, main hall, and lecture hall are lined up in a straight line on a central axis slightly to the west, with the middle gate and lecture hall connected by a corridor. The east pagoda is placed outside the corridor. The dimensions, such as the width of the corridor at the front of 105 meters (350 shaku) and the center-center distance between the lecture hall and the middle gate of 96.9 meters (323 shaku), indicate that the temple is large for a regional temple, and support the records in the official history. The current site of the main buildings is within the grounds of Ankoku-ji Temple.

[Nobuaki Ohgane]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

栃木県下野(しもつけ)市薬師寺にある古代東国有数の官寺跡。奈良時代には日本三戒壇の一がここに置かれ、僧道鏡(どうきょう)の流配寺としても有名。『続日本紀(しょくにほんぎ)』などわが国の正史にも寺名が記されるが、創建年代は天智(てんじ)・天武(てんむ)・文武(もんむ)朝期など諸説があり不詳。しかし、1966年（昭和41）から71年まで6次の発掘が実施され、大和(やまと)川原寺(かわらでら)系の八葉複弁蓮華文(れんげもん)や重弧(じゅうこ)文の優美な軒瓦(のきがわら)が出土した。これによって天武朝期（673～686）ごろの創建説が有力となる。四至は塀によって画され、東西252メートル、南北340メートル強。東・西辺の中間には門が置かれ、やや西に寄った中軸線上に南門、中門、金堂、講堂が直線的に並び、中門と講堂は回廊で結ぶ。東塔は回廊の外に置かれる。回廊の正面幅105メートル（350尺）、講堂と中門の心心距離96.9メートル（323尺）など数値が示す規模は地方寺院としては大きく、正史の記載を裏づける。主要堂宇跡の現況は安国寺の境内となっている。

［大金宣亮］

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