Myokenji Temple

Nagano

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Recommended Themes, Seasons and Activities

Item2 Themes

History：Shrines and Temples
The Arts：Mural Painting and Picture

Seasons

Spring / Summer / Autumn / Winter

Activities

Cultural Experiences（Nakiryu, Vermilion Seal）/ Look

  • Calling dragon (Nakiryu)(1)
  • Calling dragon (Nakiryu)(2)
Calling dragon (Nakiryu)(1) Calling dragon (Nakiryu)(2)

Come to Ueda and hear the call of dragons at Myokenji Temple

Myokenji Temple in the city of Ueda, Nagano Prefecture, was first established near the beginning of the 12th century by a Kamakura lord who daily venerated the Nyorai and Myoken manfestations of the Buddha. Later, in the 15th century, it was moved to its current location and the main hall was rebuilt in the middle of the Edo period (1603–1868). During this major renovation, across a ten-mat area on the ceiling of the main hall antechamber, Shozan Nobutada, member of the then premier Kano School of nihonga, painted the ceiling. His dynamic brush strokes bring alive, one above the other, two dragons. If you clap your hands below the heads of the dragons, they seem to answer with a sound that reverberate “Kiryu ru ru ru…” This gives the temple its familiar name of Nakiryu, literally, “Calling dragon.” It is also interesting that only people who clap their hands immediately below the dragons can hear the sound. Just to experience this amazing phenomenon, Shinshu’s Ueda would be worth a visit.

  • Precincts of the temple
  • Inside of a lecture hall
Precincts of the temple Inside of a lecture hall

Deeply feel history as you stroll around the Sanada Clan castle town

With its Nakiryu ceiling, Myokenji Temple is one of four guardian dragon locations at cardinal points in Japan. To the east, there is the main hall of Nikko Toshogu Shrine, Tochigi Prefecture. To the west is Shokokuji Temple in Kyoto. In the north, Ryusenji Temple in Aomori Prefecture has been lost to fire. Meanwhile, Myokenji Temple continues to be the “Southern Nakiryu Dragon” and, from far and wide, many people come to visit. The Nakiryu dragons also dance in scarlet imprint on the temple seal.
Around the dynamic Nakiryu dragons, expressing a classical Chinese Confucian virtue, there are also delicately drawn depictions of the “24 Exemplars of Filial Piety.”
At the core of Ueda City, where Myokenji Temple is located, is the castle town built by the renowned Sanada Clan. Here you can discover many historical sites from the early feudal period. You can also walk back in time along the ancient highway that passes through Yanagi-cho.

Myokenji Temple

Address

 654-2 Shimotakeshi, Ueda, Nagano Prefecture

Hours

 9:00 am to 5:00 pm

Closed

 Open daily

Cost

 100 yen

Phone

 0268-85-2102

Access

 By car from Nagano Shinkansen Ueda Sta., about 30 min By bus from Nagano Shinkansen Ueda Sta. to Shimotakeshi, about 60 min, then walk about 2 min

Web site

 http://www.city.ueda.nagano.jp/kankojoho/shisetsu/shiseki/017.html
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