The Phoenix Hall of Byōdō-in
A temple built as an image of Amida Buddha’s paradise, with wings like a bird alighting on the water. The building appears on the 10-yen coin.
The reflection in the pond doubles the temple – paradise both above and below.
Byōdō-in lies in Uji, south of Kyoto. The site was originally a villa belonging to the powerful Fujiwara no Michinaga. His son Fujiwara no Yorimichi converted the villa into a Buddhist temple in 1052. The following year, 1053, the Phoenix Hall was completed. The Fujiwara clan then dominated the Japanese court and was one of the wealthiest families in the country.
The building is called the Phoenix Hall because, with its central structure and two side wings, it resembles a bird with outstretched wings. Two bronze phoenixes stand on the roof. The hall stands beside a pond and is reflected in the water. Inside sits a large gilded statue of Amida Buddha. The building is depicted on the Japanese ten-yen coin.
The composition is symmetrical. The central hall is flanked by corridors that extend to the sides and turn forwards. From the far side of the pond, Amida’s face can be seen through a grille in the façade. The visitor was meant to see Amida across the water, as in a vision of paradise.
The Amida statue is by Jōchō, one of the most important sculptors of his time. It is built using a technique called yosegi-zukuri, in which several blocks of wood are joined together. The technique made it possible to create large statues that were lighter and less prone to cracking. On the walls around the statue hang fifty-two small wooden figures of bodhisattvas riding on clouds, playing music or dancing. The walls and doors of the hall bear paintings showing Amida descending to welcome the dying, a type of image known as raigō. The colours are now much faded.
The hall was built at a time when many believed that the world had entered a period of decline, mappō, in which the Buddha’s teaching could no longer bring salvation through one’s own efforts. The only hope was to call upon Amida, who promised to receive the faithful in his Western Paradise, the Pure Land. The Phoenix Hall was to be an image of that paradise on earth.
The building has survived wars and fires for almost a thousand years. It has been restored several times, most recently in the 2010s, when it regained its red colour. The original phoenixes from the roof are in a museum at the temple, and copies stand on the roof. Most of the bodhisattva figures are also in the museum.
Byōdō-in is part of the World Heritage Site of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto. The temple is regarded as the finest surviving example of Heian architecture and has shaped the image of Japan as a country of harmony between architecture and nature. The phoenix has also appeared on the ten-thousand-yen note.