Honkou-ji, Graveyard of the Matsudaira
Life and Death in the Matsudaira Ancestral Temple
Located along the old Tokaido highway route, in between the seaside resort town of Gamagori and the castle town of Okazaki in Aichi Prefecture, is a village called Kota. The region was once dominated by the various branches of the Matsudaira clan, forebears of the Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu. There were some 19 major branches of the Matsudaira clan, with the main Okazaki based Matsudaira rising to the forefront during the Sengoku period.
Despite there being very little to see in Kota, tourists flock here by the thousands to the ancient temple of Honkou-ji. Hokou-ji, designated a National Historic Site in 2014, was the burial place of the noble Matsudaira Clan’s early founding members, and while visitors to the fascinating graveyard are few, the main reason for the crowds relates to the temples other name, Ajisaidera, or, the Hydrangea Temple.
Life
Between late May and early June, the temple dedicated to the dead Matsudaira comes alive as over 10,000 delicate hydrangeas sprout profusely and the annual Hydrangea Festival is held within the ancient temple’s grounds. While most of the visitors are elderly women, there are plenty of younger people, and particularly camera buffs out to snap up the colors. Honkou-ji is also famed for it’s 5,000 camellia trees, flowering in brilliant red, pink and white. One of the revered trees actually sprouts five different colors of camellia flower from its strong limbs at once, while during the early spring, the temples’ age gnarled cherry and plum trees attract day visitors and adds to the rich beauty of the area.
Death
A short walk up the cobblestone paved stairway above the temple are the ancient burial grounds of the Matsudaira Clan, ancestors of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was born Matsudaira Takechiyo in nearby Okazaki Castle in January of 1543.
The temple, established 20 years before in 1523, 1573 by Matsudaira Tadasada the founder of the Fuzoku Matsudaira clan, is a Soto sect Buddhist temple. The nature surrounded grounds are divided into East and West. The western section contains the graves of the first five and the 11th heads of the Fuzoku Matsudaira clan. The Shoukei-do, the mausoleum of the 5th generation lord, Matsudaira Tadatoshi (1582-1632) still stands within the grounds.
The Eastern section contains the graves of the 6th through 10th and 12th through 19th generation clan heads. The grave marker of the lord, Matsudaira Tadafusa, located up the hill behind his mausoleum and overlooking the serene temple grounds, is a huge stone slab being bourn by a turtle like creature. It’s said that if a tossed offertory coin lands in the dip in the neck just behind the creatures’ head, then your wish will come true
The Eastern graveyard on the other side of the grounds and a short walk up a picturesque stone and moss lined stairway contains over 20 graves of the sixth to the 20th clan heads, as well as other family members, including wives.
Many of these graves were badly damaged in the Great Mikawa earthquake of 1945.
In August of 2008, during the heavy rains resulting from a typhoon, the tombstone of the 7th lord Matsudaira Tadao, (1673-1736) collapsed. During subsequent restoration work, several votive deposits, personal items and offerings were recovered from the grave, such as a tachi sword and glass objects, including a Bohemian crystal cup dated to around 1599.
A 100 Yen entry donation is accepted in order to maintain the graveyard, which itself retains an eerie atmosphere. Surrounded by castle-like stone bulwarks topped with decaying tile lined crumbling clay earthen walls, at the foot of the stone lanterns marking the graves, are long, thin, rounded stones, all laid facing the same direction....
Honkou-ji offers the enjoyment of life with it’s magnificent gardens and thousands of hydrangea, camellia and cherry trees, while offering the fascination of death in the stunning graveyards of the Matsudaira. At theHonkou-ji, one can feel the history and experience the beauty in out of the way, old Japan.