Erin-ji Temple

Erin-ji is a Rinzai Zen temple in the Enzan district of Koshu founded in the 14th century and later rebuilt after destruction in the Onin War before being adopted as the funerary temple of the Takeda clan, the powerful Sengoku-period warlord family that ruled Kai province, present-day Yamanashi, through the 16th century. The temple is best known as the burial place of Takeda Shingen, arguably Japan's most celebrated Sengoku-era daimyo, whose grave within the temple grounds is opened to public visitors on the 12th of each month, matching the date of his death. Visitors walk through a sequence of gates and halls, including the Sanmon main gate, and a Zen dry-landscape garden attributed to the noted garden designer Muso Soseki, whose design work also shaped several of Kyoto's most famous temple gardens; Erin-ji's garden, centered on a pond and carefully placed rock groupings, is considered one of the finest surviving examples of his style outside Kyoto. The temple grounds are also associated with an often-repeated (though historically unverified) legend involving monks who refused to reveal Takeda Katsuyori's whereabouts to Oda Nobunaga's forces during the clan's final defeat in 1582 and were burned alive in the Sanmon gate as a result, a story that remains part of the temple's popular telling even without firm documentary confirmation. A full visit through the halls, garden, and grounds takes about 45 minutes to an hour and a quarter, longer during the cherry blossom season when the temple's grounds draw larger crowds for a well-regarded seasonal display.