Daijoji Temple
Daijoji Temple is also called “Okyo dera” as it has many paintings on sliding paper doors etc. painted by Okyo Maruyama, a painter in the middle Edo Period and his followers. When Okyo was obscure, Saint Mitsuzo, the temple master at Daijoji Temple found Okyo’s talent and offered tuition assistance to him. With the aid, Okyo moved to Edo to learn painting, finally standing at the pinnacle of the art world. After this, he, his children, and pupils visited Daijoji Temple five times to paint many pictures on sliding paper doors and hanging scrolls to repay Saint Mitsuzo’s favor. Daijoji Temple’s thirteen guest rooms have 165 paintings on sliding paper doors painted by Okyo and his 12 pupils. All of these paintings are designated as national important cultural properties. These paintings on sliding paper doors decorate 13 rooms, centering on a standing statue of the Eleven-faced Kannon Bosatsu (national important cultural property) placed in a room for a Buddha statue, to sterically express a mandala: the world of Buddha in every room.
