Ryusen-ji Temple

Ryusen-ji Temple is located in Shimoashimori, Kita Ward, Okayama City, and serves as the head temple of the Saijō sect of Nichiren Buddhism. It is renowned for the Buddhist paintings by Kimura Buzan. According to tradition, it was founded during the Tenpyō Shōhō era of the Nara period (749–757) by the Great Master Hōon, who had engaged in mountain ascetic practices in the area. Since ancient times, this place has been a sacred site of Iwakura (rock seat) worship, not only serving as an important training ground for Shugendō practitioners, but also revered as a center for rainmaking and water deity worship due to its location on the western foot of Mount Ryūō. In addition, Inari is enshrined here as the guardian deity of agriculture and bountiful harvests, making the temple a spiritual hub that blends multiple folk beliefs.

The current layout of Ryusen-ji was largely reconstructed and developed in the early Meiji period by Saint Nichigo, the temple’s restorer and founder in its modern form. Saint Nichigo passed away in 1905 at the age of eighty-eight. During the turbulent years of the Meiji Restoration, he accepted lower-ranking samurai who had lost their positions, allowing them to live and practice together at the temple. Many of the stone walls and buildings from that era remain to this day. In 1889, the temple adopted the name “Daikeizan Ryusen-ji,” and in 1951 it officially became the head temple of the Saijō sect of Nichiren Buddhism, taking the name “Saijō Honzan Otaki Ryusen-ji.”

The temple’s principal deity is the Great Bodhisattva of the Most Honorable Sutra King (commonly called Saijō-sama or Oinari-san). Other deities enshrined include the Eight Great Dragon Kings (water deities), Kishimojin (protector of children), and the Three-faced Daikokuten.