Chokaisan Ryutoji Temple is a historic Buddhist temple located in Warabioka, Yuza Town, Yamagata Prefecture. It belongs to the Chisan School of Shingon Buddhism and once flourished as one of the major centers of mountain asceticism, or Shugendo, around Mount Chokai.
For centuries, numerous ascetics and Buddhist monks gathered at the foothills of Mount Chokai, which was revered as a sacred mountain. Among these centers, the Warabioka tradition became particularly influential. Ryutoji preserves buildings, Buddhist statues, religious ceremonies, and other cultural elements associated with this history, making it an important site for understanding the religious heritage of Mount Chokai.
Several traditions have been passed down concerning the origins of Ryutoji. According to the temple’s own tradition, the temple was founded in 807 by the Buddhist priest Jisho Shonin. However, no conclusive historical documents have been found to verify this account, and it is regarded today as a traditional story.
The Chronicle of Mount Haguro also records a tradition that in 860, the monk Ennin, also known as Jikaku Daishi, defeated a blue demon and a red demon and established a Gongen Hall at a location resembling the head of a dragon. This story is traditionally connected with the origin of the name “Ryuto,” meaning “Dragon’s Head.”
One legend explains the name Ryuto in relation to the appearance of Mount Chokai. When viewed from the summit toward the Shonai side, the mountain is said to resemble a dragon sleeping with its body curled into a coil. The foothills around Warabioka were considered to correspond to the dragon’s head, giving rise to the name “Ryuto.”
Many place names and legends associated with dragons and water remain around Mount Chokai. The name of Ryutoji reflects the deep connection between the mountain’s natural landscape and the religious traditions that developed around it.
Several Shugendo centers once existed around the foothills of Mount Chokai. Among them, the Warabioka Shugendo community was particularly powerful. Ryutoji served as one of its central temples and supported the activities of ascetics who practiced their faith on and around the sacred mountain.
During the medieval period, the area developed as a center for the spread of Shingon Esoteric Buddhism. During the Edo period, its role as a center of mountain ascetic practice became even more firmly established.
Historical records provide evidence of the scale of the Warabioka Shugendo community during the early modern period. The Chokaizan Shrine Land Survey Register of 1611 lists the names and holdings of 33 monastic quarters, indicating that a substantial religious community existed in Warabioka at the time.
Another important document from 1612 records a donation made by Mogami Yoshiaki to the religious establishment of Mount Chokai. These records illustrate the close relationship between the worship of Mount Chokai and the political authorities who governed the region.
During the early Edo period, Warabioka also maintained connections with Haguro Shugendo, the mountain ascetic tradition associated with Mount Haguro.
A document created during a dispute with Fukiura in 1655 states that Warabioka had originally belonged to the Haguro tradition while maintaining its identity as a Shingon Buddhist temple. Such records demonstrate how religious traditions around Mount Chokai developed through relationships among different Buddhist schools and Shugendo groups.
The temples of Warabioka underwent changes in their names and religious affiliations over the course of history. A document from 1630 refers to the religious establishment as “Shingon School, Warabioka Chokai School.” Historical records indicate that the temple, formerly known as Shogakusan Kannonji, eventually came to be called Ryutoji.
In 1684, documents were exchanged with Chuseiin at Shinagawa Temple in Edo, acting as a representative of Sanbo-in of Daigoji. These records indicate that Ryutoji came under the authority of Sanbo-in and practiced the Jumyo-style Shugendo tradition as a direct affiliated temple of the Tozan-ha tradition.
During the middle of the Edo period, Hoin Shinkai, a Buddhist priest from Jokoji Temple in Nippori, Edo, is said to have visited Warabioka. Ryutoji subsequently established its position as a direct affiliated temple of Sanbo-in at Daigoji.
As a result, Ryutoji became a major center of Shingon-based mountain asceticism, overseeing the 33 monastic quarters and playing an important role in the development of Shugendo in Warabioka.
A document submitted to the temple magistrate in 1802 by Hokoji Temple of Edo, the head temple of the Tozan-ha Shugendo tradition, also states that Ryutoji in Warabioka could advance within the religious hierarchy. Such records indicate the considerable status and influence that the temple had attained at the time.
Ryutoji continues to preserve Buddhist images closely connected with the religious traditions of Mount Chokai. The main hall enshrines Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of healing and medicine, regarded as the honjibutsu, or principal Buddhist manifestation, of Mount Chokai’s sacred summit.
During periods when Buddhism and Shinto were closely intertwined in Japan, sacred mountains were often understood as manifestations of divine and Buddhist beings. The Buddhist statues and buildings preserved at Ryutoji offer an insight into this history of Shinbutsu-shugo, the syncretic tradition of Buddhism and Shinto, surrounding Mount Chokai.
The Kannon Hall enshrines an impressive Eleven-Headed Kannon standing approximately 3.6 meters tall. The statue is considered to date from the early Heian period and is one of the important cultural treasures preserved at Ryutoji.
For centuries, the Kannon Hall has served as a place where people visiting Mount Chokai could express their devotion. It remains an important site for experiencing the Buddhist culture and mountain ascetic traditions associated with the sacred mountain.
The Main Hall, Founder’s Hall, and Kannon Hall at Ryutoji are registered as National Tangible Cultural Properties.
The survival of these historic structures is one of the temple’s major attractions. Walking among the buildings at the foot of Mount Chokai provides a sense of the era when numerous ascetics gathered here and made Warabioka their base for religious practice.
The Nio guardian statues at Ryutoji are notable for their unusual Indian-inspired appearance. Their distinctive forms differ from many conventional Nio statues found at Japanese Buddhist temples and make them an especially interesting feature of the temple grounds.
A local tradition holds that passing between the legs of the Nio statue can bring blessings for recovery from measles and protection from illness.
This custom represents one of the folk beliefs that have been passed down together with the history of Ryutoji, illustrating how formal Buddhist traditions and local religious practices have interacted over the centuries.
The religious landscape surrounding Ryutoji changed dramatically during the Meiji period. The government’s policies of separating Buddhism and Shinto, beginning with the Shinbutsu Hanzen Order of 1868, followed by the abolition of Shugendo in 1872, brought an end to the traditional institutional structure of mountain asceticism.
In Warabioka, most of the ascetics and religious practitioners, with the exception of Ryutoji, converted to Shinto. Ryutoji continued to exist as a Buddhist temple and has belonged to the Chisan School of New Shingon Buddhism since 1892.
Conflicts and mediation occurred in Warabioka during the transition to Shinto. The area subsequently became a “Kuchi-no-miya,” or lower shrine, of Chokaisan Omonoimishrine together with Fukiura.
As transportation routes changed, however, the area’s importance gradually declined. Today, the grand worship hall of Warabioka Kuchi-no-miya still survives, offering a visible reminder of the area’s former importance as a center of Mount Chokai worship and Shugendo.
Among the cultural traditions preserved in Warabioka, one of the most notable is the Omoihei Festival, held annually on May 3.
During the festival, sacred gohei paper streamers are raised in front of the main hall, while young performers present traditional dance and musical performances.
These performing arts are collectively known as Warabioka Ennen and have been designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan.
The survival of these ceremonies and traditional performances over many generations demonstrates the richness of the religious culture that developed around Mount Chokai.
The area surrounding Ryutoji still retains traces of the historic shukubo district of Warabioka, which once prospered as a base for Mount Chokai Shugendo.
Shukubo are traditional temple lodgings that historically accommodated pilgrims and religious practitioners visiting sacred mountains. Walking through the settlement today offers a glimpse of the period when temples and lodgings stood side by side and large numbers of people traveled through Warabioka on their way to worship Mount Chokai.
Chokaisan Ryutoji Temple is more than simply a historic Buddhist temple. It is an important cultural heritage site that preserves the history of mountain worship, Shugendo, and Shingon Esoteric Buddhism associated with Mount Chokai.
From the traditions surrounding its foundation to its development as an Edo-period Shugendo center overseeing 33 monastic quarters, its relationship with Sanbo-in, and the dramatic religious changes brought about by the Meiji government’s separation of Buddhism and Shinto, Ryutoji reflects the changing religious history of Japan over many centuries.
Today, visitors can see historic buildings such as the Main Hall, Founder’s Hall, and Kannon Hall, as well as Buddhist statues including Yakushi Nyorai and the Eleven-Headed Kannon. The unusual Nio guardian statues, the historic shukubo district, and the surviving religious traditions of Warabioka add further depth to a visit.
Set against the magnificent natural landscape of Mount Chokai, Ryutoji offers travelers an opportunity to discover the history and culture of Japanese mountain worship and to better understand the religious traditions that have shaped the communities at the foot of this sacred mountain.