South Iwate · HiraizumiNo.573★★★Open in map →

Motsuji Temple

historyThe classic — done right

The Pure Land garden of a temple in Hiraizumi that was once the largest in the north. The halls have gone; the pond they were built around, the stream that feeds it and the stone foundations remain, restored from excavation.

FromIchinoseki Station
~20 minJR local, then a walk
Get off atHiraizumi Station (JR Tohoku Main Line)
On foot
Motsuji Temple

Directions ↗

Where it is

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What to look for — in walking order

The yarimizu channelNerotaso / CC BY-SA 3.0

The Sanmon gatethe entrance from the station road, where the grounds open out flat
The main hallthe hall that holds Yakushi Nyorai, the temple's principal image
Oizumi-ga-ikethe garden pond, its shoreline built to suggest a rocky coast and a shingle beach
The yarimizu channela narrow stream winding into the pond, laid back out from what excavation found
The treasure halla small museum on the grounds covering the temple's history and the Heian finds

How to actually get there

Ichinoseki Station → Hiraizumi Station (JR Tohoku Main Line, a few minutes north).
Hiraizumi Station → the Sanmon gate, walking west along one straight road.
Through the gate to the main hall, then round Oizumi-ga-ike past the foundation stones and the yarimizu channel.
Finish at the treasure hall, then walk back to the station or take the loop bus on to Chusonji.

JR Tohoku Main Line from Ichinoseki: Ichinoseki is the Tohoku Shinkansen stop for this part of Iwate, and Hiraizumi is a few minutes north on the JR Tohoku Main Line — under ten minutes on the local train. From Hiraizumi Station the temple is a straight walk west along one road, with no turns to remember.
Back to Ichinoseki on the same line: Return trains run from the same platform at Hiraizumi and take the same few minutes to Ichinoseki, where the Shinkansen connects. This is a rural line and services thin out in the evening, so check the departure board when you arrive rather than at the end of the day.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Motsuji sits on flat ground at the western edge of Hiraizumi, a small town in southern Iwate that was for a century the seat of the Northern Fujiwara. At its height the temple counted forty halls and pagodas and five hundred monks' quarters, a complex the temple's own history describes as surpassing Chusonji on the hill above. Almost none of the buildings survived. The ground plan did: Oizumi-ga-ike, a garden pond shaped to suggest a coastline, the winding yarimizu channel that feeds it, and rows of foundation stones where the halls once stood. The state gives the grounds a double designation, as a special historic site and a place of special scenic beauty.

How to enjoy it

The gate opens at 8:30 and closes at 17:00, half an hour earlier through the winter months, so an afternoon arrival in the cold season is shorter than it looks. Because the site is flat and entirely outdoors it pairs easily with Chusonji on the hill above — take the garden first, while the light is still low across the water, and climb afterwards.

Background & history

The temple is dated to 850, when the monk Ennin, known as Jikaku Daishi, is said to have founded it after following a white deer through fog. Three centuries later Fujiwara no Motohira began rebuilding on a far larger scale and his son Hidehira finished the work. The complex was lost after the Northern Fujiwara were destroyed at the end of the twelfth century, and the site stayed as ruins and garden. In 2011 Motsuji was inscribed on the World Heritage list as one of the five components of Hiraizumi.

Before you go

Cash: Admission was 700 yen for adults at the time of checking, with reduced rates for high-school and for elementary and junior-high pupils. Tickets are bought at the gate, and Hiraizumi Station is a small station, so carry cash.
Good to know: The grounds are entirely open to the sky, with almost no shelter from rain or snow, and there is no evening opening. From early November until spring the gate closes half an hour earlier, which makes a winter visit best planned around the middle of the day. Nothing on the site is under cover apart from the main hall and the treasure hall.
Another way: The Hiraizumi loop bus operated by Iwate Kenkotsu links the station with Motsuji and with Chusonji, which is the easier way to do both in one morning. Drivers will find a large paid car park at the temple.
After you get off: Hiraizumi Station is about 0.7 km from the temple. Leave the station on the west side and follow the road straight ahead to the gate.