The Tōrin-ji Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple was originally built in 1614 and because a 1771 tsunami wiped out much of the city, it is Okinawa’s oldest wooden building. Its carvings (the two big guys on either side of the main gate) also clock in as the oldest surviving ones in the province. As is often the case in Japan, the temple shares space with a Shinto shrine—here, the Gongen-do, which was not as lucky in that 1771 tsunami and had to be rebuilt. (Note: -ji and “temple” mean the same thing; they are used here together to clarify things for non-Japanese speakers.)
Torin_ji temple, deva gate, Ishigaki_jima Ialand, Okinawa, Japan
JTB Photo/© JTB Photo
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Tōrin-ji Temple
The Tōrin-ji Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple was originally built in 1614 and because a 1771 tsunami wiped out much of the city, it is Okinawa’s oldest wooden building. Its carvings (the two big guys on either side of the main gate) also clock in as the oldest surviving ones in the province. As is often the case in Japan, the temple shares space with a Shinto shrine—here, the Gongen-do, which was not as lucky in that 1771 tsunami and had to be rebuilt. (Note: -ji and “temple” mean the same thing; they are used here together to clarify things for non-Japanese speakers.)
