Hōkiji Temple

Hokiji Temple is located in Okamoto, Ikaruga Town, Ikoma District, Nara Prefecture. Belonging to the Shōtoku sect of Buddhism, its mountain name is Okamoto-san, and its principal deity is the Eleven-faced Kannon. With a long and rich history, the temple was formerly known as Okamoto-dera or Ikegoshi-dera, and alongside Horyuji and Chūgūji, it represents the flourishing Buddhist culture of the Ikaruga area. In 1993, it was inscribed as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Buddhist Monuments in the Horyuji Area.”

The temple’s name had long been read as Hokkiji, but when it was registered as a World Heritage Site, the temple authorities decided to officially adopt the reading Hokiji to match the pronunciation of the character “法” (hō) in Horyuji. Nonetheless, the traditional reading Hokkiji is still widely used today.

The origins of Hokiji Temple are deeply tied to Prince Shōtoku. It is said that this site was once Okamoto Palace, where the prince lectured on the Lotus Sutra. On his deathbed, he instructed his son, Prince Yamashiro no Ōe, to convert the palace into a temple. Later, in 638 (the 10th year of Emperor Jomei’s reign), the monk Fukuryō built the Kondō and a statue of Miroku (Maitreya). In 706 (the 3rd year of the Keiun era), the monk Eshi completed the three-story pagoda. It took more than 80 years for the temple complex to take shape.

Today, only the three-story pagoda remains from its original construction. Standing about 24 meters tall, it was built in the early 8th century and is considered the oldest existing three-story pagoda in Japan, as well as one of the largest. Unlike most pagodas, its uppermost story has unusually narrow spacing between pillars, making it architecturally distinctive. The structure underwent major repairs in the Edo period, and a full dismantling and restoration in the 1970s brought it closer to its original form.

Hokiji flourished during the Nara period but declined in the Heian era, leaving only the pagoda standing by the Edo period. In modern times, the temple went through several sectarian changes before finally being incorporated into the Shōtoku sect along with Horyuji.