文昭院
Bunshō-in

(Divine Prince of Illumination)

六代将軍徳川家宣公
6th Shōgun, Lord Tokugawa Ienobu

LOCATION: Zōjō-ji (Shiba Park)

The 6th shogun, Yoshinobu. — The 6th shogun, Ienobu.

The shōgunate has established two bodaiji (funerary temples) at Zōjō-ji and Kan’ei-ji. In order of succession, they’ve enshrined the rulers; at Nikkō, at Zōjō-ji, at Nikkō, and then at Kan’ei-ji, and again at Kan’ei-ji. In my first article on Tokugawa Funerary Temples, I mentioned that interment in Edo alternated between Kan’ei-ji and Zōjō-ji. But so far, we’ve got only one enshrinement at Zōjō-ji and two consecutive enshrinements at Kan’ei-ji. So, now it’s time to balance the scales and so today we’re traveling back south down to Zōjō-ji on the occasion of the interment of the 6^th shōgun, Tokugawa Ienobu.

It should be noted that as my research into these places goes on, I’ve been noticing some trends. The main thing is that the mortuary temples of Zōjō-ji are much better documented that those of Kan’ei-ji. I have some semi-educated guesses as to why this is. But if anyone knows something I don’t, I’d love to hear it.

In my article on Daitoku-in, I tried to provide as many photos of the non-extant structures as possible. If you compare those pictures with the surviving structures, you can get a sense of the original. If you look at the existing structures at Nikkō and imagine them dialed down a little bit, you really can start to imagine how the original looked and felt. After reading this article, again I encourage you to look at the pictures at Kan’ei-ji and notice the parallels and differences. It should help to imagine the original.

Because of group enshrinements[i], describing Ienobu’s Bunshōin in charts as I have done with previous shrines is a little difficult. Apparently it was a massive funerary complex, rivaling Hidetada’s Daitoku-in, only a little smaller. And like Daitoku-in, it was a major sightseeing spot in Tōkyō until its destruction in the Great Tōkyō Air Raid on March 10^th 1945[ii].

Structures of Bunshō-in

Structure Name	Description	Condition	Status
本殿 honden	the main hall	destroyed	—
相之間 ai no ma	in gongen-zukuri architecture, the structure that connects the honden and haiden.	destroyed	—
拝殿 haiden	the inner or private worship hall	destroyed	—
前廊 zenrō	a latticework fence that forms the border to a temple	destroyed	—
中門 nakamon	The “middle gate” which usually opens from a court yard into the worship hall	destroyed	—
左右廊 sayūrō	portico on the left and right side of a shrine	destroyed	—
渡廊 watarō	portico	destroyed	—
透塀 sukibei	latticework fence that encloses a temple or shrine	destroyed	—
内透塀 uchi-sukibei	name means inner latticework fence	destroyed	—
外透塀 soto-sukibei	name means outer latticework fence	destroyed	—
仕切門 shikirimon	entrance to the oku no in	destroyed	—
鐘楼 shōrō	belfry, bell tower	destroyed	—
井戸屋形 ido yakata	roof over a well, or spring	destroyed	—
勅額門 chokugaku-mon	imperial scroll gate; posthumous name of the deceased hand written by the emperor which marked the official entrance to the funerary temple	destroyed	—
二天門 nitenmon	main gate, protected by two gods	destroyed	—
奥院波板塀 oku no in nami itabei	“wave fence” made of planks around the inner sanctuary	destroyed	—
奥院拝殿 oku no in haiden	worship hall within the inner sanctuary	destroyed	—
奥院宝塔 oku no in hōtō	A copper 2-story pagoda styled funerary urn that houses the remains of the deceased	fair condition	In the Tokugawa Graveyard at Zōjō-ji
奥院唐門 oku no in karamon	so-called Chinese style gate that provided entry and exit to the tomb of the deceased	destroyed	—
奥院中門 oku no in nakamon	presumably the gate to another small fence around the hōtō	extant and functional, but damaged	Now the entrance to the Tokugawa Graveyard at Zōjō-ji
水盤舎 suibansha	water basins for ritual purification	destroyed	—
石灯籠 ishidōrō	traditional stone lanterns	37 are scattered about Zōjō-ji [iii]	Some moved to various temples in Tōkyō’s Minato Ward
銅燈籠 dōdōrō	copper lanterns; there were 138 copper lanterns at Bunshō-in	95 still exist	Moved to Fudō-ji in Tokorozawa

The list above roughly itemizes the main structures at Bunshō-in as they relate to the 6^th shōgun, Tokugawa Ienobu. As mentioned before, other shōguns were enshrined here. The ridiculous amount of copper lanterns reflects total from all of the enshrinements. Only 95 exist today.

Maps of Zōjō-ji & Tokugawa Funerary Temples

Map from a 1937 English language travel guide. In the center you can see Zojo-ji's main gate and temple. On the left is Daitokuin, on the right large complex is Bunshoin and some of the other shoguns' graves. — Map from a 1937 English language travel guide.
At number 12, you can see Zojo-ji’s main temple.
On the left is Daitoku-in, in the center is Zojo-ji, the complex immediately on the right is Bunshoin, next to that are some of the other shoguns’ graves (but we haven’t gotten their yet).
Click to enlarge.

Another map of Zojo-ji. In the middle you can see the main temple. To the left of it, Daitokuin. To the immediate right is Bunshoin. — Another map of Zojo-ji.
In the middle you can see the main temple.
To the left of it, Daitoku-in.
To the immediate right is Bunsho-in and Yusho-in.
Click to enlarge.

Here's a close up of the map above. The main structures are labeled for her pleasure. — Here’s a close up of the map above.
The main structures are labeled for her pleasure.

As you can see in the labeled map above, the layout of the 6th shōgun’s tomb and the 7th shōgun’s tomb is nearly identical up to the nakamon (middle gate). Because of this and because the similar design, I got a bit confused at what pictures I was looking at. Some other people have too, so some of the pictures I’ve come across online were mislabeled. I’m fairly certain, I have most of the pictures straight, but be aware, some of these might be from the 7th shōgun’s funerary temple — I’ll mention if I’m not sure.

Imperial Scroll Gate

bunshoin tokugawa ienobu grave — View of the backside of the Imperial Scroll Gate.

Back of imperial scroll gate - bunshoin tokugawa ienobu grave — Same shot, different cropping.

I'm pretty sure this is Bunshoin (Ienobu), but it might be Yushoin (Ietsugu). It's hard to tell with the coloration and without being able to see the imperial scroll (plaque). — I’m pretty sure this is Bunshoin (Ienobu),
but it might be Yushoin (Ietsugu).
It’s hard to tell with the coloration and without being able to see the imperial scroll (plaque).

Bell Tower

Oku no In – The Inner Sanctum

The water basin was required for ritual purification before entering the oku no in (the inner sanctum). To get to this area, you had to pass through the nakamon (middle gate) which brought you to fenced in 榔 rō area surrounding the haiden. The haiden was the building for worship.

The suibansha bunshoin tokugawa ienobu grave — The suibansha, or water basin.
You can see the zenro in the background.
That’s the fence connected to the nakamon which leads to the haiden (worship hall).

Nakamon (middle gate) which leads to the haiden (worship hall).

拝殿中門 — Same picture, different processing.

Inside the sayuro (the porticos on the left and right side of the zenro) surrounding the main hall.

A close up of the wooden carvings decorating the inside of the haiden. — A close up of the wooden carvings and paintings decorating the inside of the haiden.

Tamaya – The Graveyard

It took me forever to figure out wtf a shikirimon was in shrine/temple architecture. It's the gate that leads out of the oku no in to the next area which is the graveyard. If you look through the gate, you can see a stairway. This is a key feature of Bunshoin, the funerary urn itself was located at the top of the hill. — It took me forever to figure out wtf a shikirimon was in shrine/temple architecture.
It’s the gate that leads out of the oku no in to the next area which is the graveyard.
If you look through the gate, you can see a stairway.
This is a key feature of Bunshoin, the funerary urn itself was located at the top of the hill.

The stair way leads to the karamon (Chinese style gate). Beyond the gate is the cemetery. — The stair way leads to the karamon (Chinese style gate).
Beyond the gate is the cemetery.

After passing through the karamon, we come to another nakamon. This is a copper (bronze?) gate, typical of the type that surround the actual graveyard. And another stairway….

Fire damaged doors of Bunshoin (the grave of Tokugawa Ienobu). — The gate still exists.
Not sure if they moved it, but my gut instinct says it’s in the same place as it originally was.
Today it is the entrance to the Tokugawa Cemetery, which houses the graves of the other shoguns enshrined at Zojo-ji.
My guess is that the area is original tamaya of Ienobu.

A view of the steps to the tamaya (cemetery). You can see the wooden fence and the stone walls and stairway. Today, only the gate exists. — A view of the steps to the tamaya (cemetery).
You can see the wooden fence and the stone walls and stairway.
Today, only the gate exists.

Tokugawa family crest at Bunshoin. — Close up of the Tokugawa family crest on the former nakamon (tamaya gate).

Fire damaged bronze door of Bunshoin. — The two metal panels on the left and right of the gate feature ascending and descending dragons respectively.
The bronze (copper?) has rusted so badly that you can hardly see the dragons unless you look for them.
This is a descending dragon.

tokugawa_ienobu_grave — 2-story pagoda style funerary urn.
It’s nice that some of his stone lanterns are still there.

Grave of Tokugawa Ienobu — Here you can easily see that the grave is made of copper (bronze?) as opposed to the stone base.

Lanterns

bunshoin (tokugawa ienobu) stone lantern — A stone lantern clearly marked
BUNSHO-IN.

Sadly, all that exists of Bunshō-in today are those lanterns scattered across Tōkyō and Saitama (seemingly at random) and the gate to the modern shōgun cemetery and Ienobu’s funerary urn. The Tokugawa Shōgun Cemetery was created after WWII to put all the 2-story pagoda style urns together in one place. As we continue this series, you’ll see that originally the graves were very much separate.

Support Japan This!

Follow	Japan This! on Instagram Japan This! on Facefook Japan This! on Twitter
Donate	Support every article on Patreon Donate BitCoin Donate via Paypal $5.00
Explore	Japan This! Tours

Visit the Graves of the Tokugawa Shōguns

JAPANTHIS.TOURS

[i] I’ve alluded to these group enshrinements before, but keep in mind that up to now, the shōgunate has been throwing mad cash at funerary temples. This will stop eventually.

[ii] By the way, what kind of assholes firebomb a major metropolitan city’s greatest works of art and private residences in the middle of March when it’s still cold as shit outside at night??? The longer I do this series, the more pissed off I get about the destruction of these treasures. It’s bad enough that the Meiji government tore down so many castles, but they left a lot of beautiful temples and shrines alone despite their connection to the Tokugawa – only to have the Americans indiscriminately bomb the fuck out of them, never to be rebuilt.

[iii] This website catalogs where all of Zōjō-ji’s stone lanterns are located now (Japanese only).
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/tom-itou/