Yamadera (山寺) is the colloquial name given to the town and mountainside Buddhist seminary, and the kanji simply, and aptly translates to “Mountain Temple.” The formal, historical name for the religious precinct is Risshakuji. The complex was first established in the ninth century by the famous chief-priest, Jigaku Daishi (also known by the name of Ennin), who not only established Yamadera in the then-Northern frontier of imperial Japan, but also was instrumental in bringing Tendai-sect Buddhism from China to Japan in the first place. Hailing from Kyoto’s Tendai headquarters, Enryakuji Temple, Daishi was sent north to create a new seat of power for the sect. He settled upon the scenic Mount Houjusan raising near-vertically above the languid Tachiya River as the spot to build his temple.

Though through subsequent wartimes nearly all of the buildings you see today were burned and subsequently rebuilt. Still, in spite of the occasional train trundling through the valley below, this scenic, sacred mountain complex quickly transports the visitor into a world centuries-past.

History of Kompochudo
Kompochudo Hall also houses an eternal flame, burning continuously for over one thousand years, and initially brought from China by Daishi to Enrakuji Temple. This flame represents the eternal light of the truth of the Amida Buddha’s teaching, and is actually a second flame split off from the original in Kyoto. In fact, at one point during wartime, Enrakuji also was destroyed, and after having been rebuilt, the Yamdera flame was returned temporarily to relight the lost fire. (Though the eternal flame is typically housed in Kompochudo Hall, I have also seen it burning in the main hall at the top of the mountain.) Turn left, and you will pass a number of halls and through a stone torii, and then find on your left a bronze sculpture of the esteemed haiku poet, Matsuo Basho, in repose with his trusty servant in a state of introspection. Basho on his journeys throughout Tohoku which he later wrote about in his most famous travel volume “The Narrow Road to the Deep North” stopped here in Yamadera and was so taken by the natural beauty and harmony of the place that he penned the famous lines: “stillness / steeps into the stones / the cry of cicadas”.

Yamadera (山寺)
4456-1 Yamadera. Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan

Text from “Visit Yamagata”