Hojuji Temple
Main Image Wooden Seated Yakushi Nyorai (Okiagari Yakushi) Category Nyorai (Tathagata)
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DescriptionHojuji Temple in Ayabe preserves a wooden seated Yakushi Nyorai known as Okiagari Yakushi. According to the temple’s official website, the image is thought to have been the principal Buddha of the former Inoueji Temple and is a life-size late-Heian-period statue carved from a single piece of hinoki cypress. It is designated a cultural property of Ayabe City. About 500 years ago, the monk Gikai moved the image into the temple grounds and associated it with the Zen founder Daruma’s teaching of rising again after repeated falls, giving rise to the name Okiagari Yakushi. It remains the focus of the annual Cucumber-Sealing Yakushi Festival held on the third Sunday of July, when worshippers pray for health, recovery from illness and household safety.
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