loyally by one of the daimyo—a not too likely happenstance.)
Yodogimi died at the siege of Osaka castle, reportedly by having one of her servants kill her so she would not fall into Ieyasu's hands. She died despite pleas made by Ono Harunage, who had rescued Ieyasu's granddaughter (left as a hostage with Yodogimi) from the flames. (Yodogimi is reportedly buried in the Daiyu-ji temple in Osaka.) After the siege of the castle and the death of its defenders, thousands of heads were placed on pikes to line the road from Fushimi to Kyoto as a warning to any prospective opponents of Ieyasu.
The Kodai-ji continued to exist as a Buddhist temple after the death of Yodogimi. Sankojoeki, abbot of the Kennin-ji, had been appointed as founding priest at Yodogimi's nunnery, and the Kodai-ji has remained as one of the largest and most important sub-temples of the Kennin-ji since that time. The temple was damaged by a number of fires in 1789, and then, ironically, in 1863, as tension increased between the incumbent Tokugawa shogunate and those who wished to restore the emperor to power, the temple was damaged once more. The supporters of the imperial cause, suspecting that one of their Tokugawa opponents had taken refuge in the Kodai-ji, attacked the temple and set fire to some of the buildings. Thus today only six of the original seventeenth-century structures in the Kodai-ji still exist: the Omote-mon gateway (the So-mon) to the nunnery, the Kaisan-do (Founder's Hall), the Kangetsudai covered bridge and walkway, the Tamaya (Sanctuary), and the Kasa-tei and the Shigure-tei (two small teahouses). A new Hojo (Abbot's Quarters) was erected in 1913.
The Kodai-ji is entered through the Omote-mon gateway on its southern side, and the path leads one to the left to the ticket booth. From there one proceeds ahead and then to the right behind temple buildings toward the Kangetsudai and the Kaisando.
Kangetsudai The Kangetsudai is a roofed corridor or bridge which leads over the stream between the Garyu Pond (Dragon's Pond) and the Engetsu Pond (Crescent Moon Pond) to the Kaisan-do (Founder's Hall). It has a small, four-pillared structure midway across, and in this center section, when the Kangetsudai was located at Hideyoshi's Fushimi castle, Hideyoshi would sit to gaze at the moon. In the northern section of the ponds is an island in the shape of a turtle, while in the southern portion is a group of stones meant to resemble a crane, these two animals being the traditional symbols of longevity. Work on the pond and garden were begun by the famous landscape designer Kobori Enshu in the 1620s, but the design was not perfected for another sixty-five years.
Kaisan-do A path leads alongside the garden to the front walkway to the Kaisan-do which was dedicated to the memory of Sanko Joeki, the founding priest of the Kodai-ji. To create a memorial hall befitting her temple, Yodogimi commissioned the decorating of the pillars, walls, and ceiling of the Kaisan-do by the leading artists from the Kano and Tosa schools of painting. The ceiling of the inner room boasts not only a dragon by Kano Eitoku (1543-90), but also the ceiling from Yodogimi's carriage. The ceiling of the front room contains a portion of the roof of the war junk created for use by Hideyoshi in his battles against Korea and China. The inner shrine contains an image of Sanko Joeki while the statues on either side of the steps are of Kinoshita Iesada and Unryo-in, Yodogimi's elder brother and younger sister. The four panels of the shrine in tins hall are by the noted fifteenth-century artist Kano Motonobu.
Tamaya The Kangetsudai, the roofed corridor with its moon-viewing pavilion, leads to the Kaisan-do from the west and is continued on the eastern side from the Kaisan-do to the Tamaya. The corridor is named the Garyoro (Reclining Dragon Corridor) from the resemblance of its sloping roof to the back of a reclining dragon, the roof tiles having been laid in a manner that resembles the scales on the back of a dragon. (Only a short length at its far end may be entered.)
If the Kaisan-do would appear to be overly decorated, it cannot match the Momoyama-period splendor of the Tamaya. A path leads from the central walkway of the Kaisan-do to the east and to the front gate of the Tamaya, a building enclosed behind white walls. Built to the east of the Kaisan-do in 1606, it is particularly noted for its takamaki-e (raised lacquer work), an early example of what has become known as the art of Kodai-ji-maki-e. Gold lacquer artistry reached a luxurious peak in the designs in this Spirit Hall, since the walls, furniture, cabinets, the altar, and the altar dishes are all decorated in the Kodai-ji-maki-e technique.
The altar is thus a masterpiece of lacquer craft. Its central image of worship is that of Kannon. Instead of having the usual bodhisattva images on either side of the main image, the Kannon in this memorial hall is flanked by two miniature shrines. The shrine on the left holds a wooden image of the seated Hideyoshi, the shrine case having designs in gold taken from Yodogimi's carriage. Hideyoshi's hat is the one sent to him by the emperor of China. On the opposite side of the altar on the right is a wooden image of Yodogimi as a nun. The building is further embellished with the classical painting of the Thirty-six Poets" by Tosa Mitsunobu (1434-1525) and other works by artists of the Kano school.
Shigure-tei and Kasa-tei East of the main buildings and further up the hillside are two small, thatch-roofed teahouses, also from the Fushimi castle, which are connected by a thatch-roofed walkway. They bear the names of Shigure-tei (Shower of Rain) and Kasa-tei (Umbrella). The Shigure-tei was designed by Toyobo Sochin, a disciple of Sen-no-Rikyu, the great tea master and garden designer of the late 1500s. At the time of Hideyoshi's 1587 Tea Party at the Kitano Shrine, to which he invited everyone to be present, even "those from China," all the important tea masters designed teahouses which were exhibited at the tea party. Toyobo's teahouse eventually found a permanent home at the Kodai-ji. The Kasa-tei is so-named since, from the inside of the teahouse, the poles or struts supporting the thatched roof radiate from a central point at the conical peak of the roof—thereby resembling the struts of an opened umbrella from the underside. The real name of the teahouse is more romantic: Ankan-kutsu, "Place of Idleness."
Iho-an Nordiwest of the Kangetsu-dai are two small buildings, one of which is the Iho-an (the Cottage of Lingering Fragrances). According to one account, it was the favorite tea ceremony house of a wealthy merchant and the courtesan Yoshinotayu, a famed dancer and beauty who later married, the merchant. Another account claims this to be an incense ceremony building, supposedly of Hideyoshi's time. Nearby is the Entoku-in, a sub-temple of the Kodai-ji which was once the mansion of Kinoshita Toshifusa, a nephew of Yodogimi. The 1913-rebuilt Hojo (Abbot's Quarters) has a landscape painting on its fusuma (sliding panel) which is thought to be by Tohaku Hasegawa, while the garden of the Hojo lies to its north, a Momoyama dry garden with magnificent rocks from Fushimi castle.
Among the treasures of the temple on display between November 1-10 each year are gold screens by Kano Motonobu (1476-1559), Kano Koi, and Hasegawa Tohaku (1539-1610). Certain relics of Hideyoshi and Yodogimi remain as well, notably his writing box, her black lacquer "clothes horse," and a set of small dining trays and covered bowls, all originally from the Fushimi castle of Hideyoshi.
BUNNOSUKE-JAYA
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