The founding of the temple is associated with an event recorded in the 8th century work Nihon Shoki.[1] In Book XXII, Prince Shōtoku met a man in December 613. The man was starving, and Prince Shōtoku tried to feed him and give him aid, but the man died of hunger and Prince Shōtoku had a kofun built for him.[2] Days later, Prince Shōtoku declared that the man was a sage and had a messenger inspect the tomb, which was undisturbed but empty when opened.[3]InNihon Shoki the sage is unnamed, but was later attributed as Daruma (Japanese: 達磨, lit. 'Bodhidharma').[4][5]
The Daruma-ji temple was built at the kofun in the early 13th century during the Kamakura period.[6][7] The temple was razed in the early 14th century by Buddhists who opposed the spread of the Zen school in Japan.[8] It was rebuilt in 1430 under the direction of Ashikaga Yoshinori.[9] The temple was burned down by Matsunaga Hisahide in the 16th century during the Sengoku period, and subsequently rebuilt by the order of Emperor Ōgimachi.[10]
Daruma-ji has a statue memorializing Prince Shōtoku's dog Yukimaru,[11][12] who was said to be able to understand speech and could read Buddhist writings.[13] Yukimaru's association with Daruma-ji inspired the city of Ōji to use Yukimaru as the Yuru-chara (mascot) for the city beginning in 2013.[14][13]
The Daruma-ji Chukoki Sekido (Japanese: 達磨寺中興記石幢, lit. 'Stone Column Recording the Revival of Daruma-ji') is a stone monument erected in 1448, describing the restoration of the temple during the Muromachi period, which was supported by the Muromachi bakufu.[6] The stone became a nationally designated important cultural property in 1923. In 2000, a stone was found in the base of the Chukoki stone which was inscribed in 1442, along with a Bizen ware pot and an incense burner that were subsequently assigned as nationally designated cultural properties.[16]
The temple has a wooden seated statue of Daruma, made in 1430 and commissioned by Ashikaga Yoshinori, that was designated as an important cultural property in 1909.[17] The temple also has a wooden seated statue of Prince Shōtoku that was designated as an important cultural property in 1923.[18] A pair of paintings at the temple, one of Prince Shōtoku and one of Daruma, are designated as important cultural property[19] along with a silk painting of the Buddha's death. The silk painting was originally held by the temple[20] and is now held at the Nara National Museum.[21] A wooden seated statue of Senju Kannon created during the Muromachi period was designated a tangible cultural property in 2005.[22]
^Winkel, Margarita (2012). "Entertainment and Education". In Beerens, Anna; Teeuwen, Mark (eds.). Uncharted Waters: Intellectual Life in the Edo Period. Leiden: Brill. pp. 19–21. ISBN978-90-04-22901-3. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
^The Japan Weekly Mail: A Review of Japanese Commerce, Politics, Literature, and Art. 1890. p. 405. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved October 28, 2022. Darumaji, at Oaza Oji, Oji-mura, Kazashimu-gan, built by Ashikaga Yoshinori in the 2nd year of Eikyo, to replace the temple erected on the same site some centuries before by Shotoka Taishi, is 461 years old.
^"達磨寺の見どころとぎもん" [Highlights of Daruma-ji]. darumaji.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
^"達磨寺方丈" [Hojo of Daruma-ji]. pref.nara.jp (in Japanese). June 30, 2016. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
^"達磨寺中興記石幢" [Stone Column Recording the Revival of Daruma-ji]. pref.nara.jp (in Japanese). June 30, 2016. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
^"木造達磨坐像(所在：達磨寺)" [Wooden seated Daruma statue (Location:Daruma-ji)]. pref.nara.jp (in Japanese). July 13, 2016. Archived from the original on December 4, 2021. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
^"木造聖徳太子坐像(所在：達磨寺)" [Wooden seated statue of Prince Shōtoku (Location:Daruma-ji)]. pref.nara.jp (in Japanese). July 13, 2016. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
^"聖徳太子画像及び達磨大師画像(所在：達磨寺)" [Images of Prince Shōtoku and Daruma Daishi (Location:Daruma-ji)]. pref.nara.jp (in Japanese). July 13, 2016. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
^"絹本著色涅槃図" [Painting of Nirvana on Silk]. pref.nara.jp (in Japanese). August 1, 2018. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
^"木造千手観音坐像(所在：達磨寺)" [Wooden seated Senju Kannon (Location:Daruma-ji)]. pref.nara.jp (in Japanese). June 30, 2016. Archived from the original on April 15, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
