Hoko-ji Temple

Traveler highlights

Hōkōji Temple in Kyoto’s Higashiyama district was founded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Its most notable surviving artifact is a bronze bell. The inscriptions “May the state be peaceful” and “May lord and vassal prosper” were interpreted as insulting Tokugawa Ieyasu, giving rise to the Hōkōji Bell Inscription Incident. The dispute became a pretext for the Siege of Osaka and ultimately the downfall of the Toyotomi family. Along with the bells of Tōdai-ji and Chion-in, it is counted among Japan’s three great temple bells. Hōkōji was once known for its Great Buddha of Kyoto, but the Great Buddha Hall burned down in 1973. Today, attention centers on the bronze bell and other surviving historical artifacts. Standing before it, visitors can connect the inscription to the political conflict at the end of Japan’s Warring States period and see how words cast in bronze shaped the temple’s place in history.