106 - Jinguuji

【神宮寺、jinguuji】

[This word is a combination of the Kanjis for god, shrine, and temple.]

Jinguujis are temples attached to shrines, the forerunners of Shinto-Buddhist syncretism.

They date back to the Nara period (710-794), and most of them were built in rural areas rather than in the vicinity of the capital.

Buddhism, which spread mainly in the capital, initially had little influence on the rural areas, and it is believed that jinguuji temples were built as a form of support for the gods or as a way for the gods to borrow the power of the Buddha, thereby promoting the spread of Buddhism in the countryside.

With the separation of Shintoism and Buddhism in the Meiji era (1868-1912), jinguuji temples were abolished or became independent as Buddhist temples, and none exist today.