Jōkan-ji

Jōkan-ji (浄閑寺) is a Buddhist temple in Arakawa, Tokyo, Japan. Its cemetery houses the remains of about 25,000 prostitutes and fire victims of the Yoshiwara quarter of the Edo period. A memorial to the dead was consecrated in the Meiji era.[1]

History

The temple was opened in 1655. The dead bodies of prostitutes of the Yoshiwara quarter who were too poor, which was the vast majority of them, were tucked into a hay mat and brought to the back entrance of the temple and left there. This is the reason that the temple became popularly known as Nage-komi-dera (Throw-away temple).[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b O'Connell, Jim (28 October 2008). "The 'Throw-Away Temple'". Jim O’Connell Photographs, The Blog. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2015.

Media related to Jōkan-ji (Arakawa, Tokyo) at Wikimedia Commons

35°43′51″N 139°47′34″E / 35.7308°N 139.7927°E / 35.7308; 139.7927

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.