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"Narita-san (... "Narita mountain") Shinsho-j (... "New victory temple") is a Shingon Buddhist temple located in central Narita, Chiba, Japan. It was founded in 940 by Kancho Daisojo, a disciple of Kobo Daishi. It is a lead temple in the Chisan branch (Chisan-ha ...) of New Shingon ..., includes a large complex of buildings and grounds, and is one of the best-known temples in the Kanto region. It is dedicated to Acala (Japanese: Fudo myoo ("Unmovable Wisdom King")) who is usually depicted holding a sword and rope and surrounded by flames. Often called a fire god, he is associated with fire rituals.
Founding
The temple was established in 940 to commemorate the victory of the forces dispatched from the Heian capital to suppress a revolt by the powerful Kanto region samurai, Taira no Masakado. The Shingon priest Kancho accompanied the force, bringing with him an image of Acala from the Gomado (Fire Offering Hall) of Takao-san Jingo-ji in Kyoto. Shingon founder Kobo Daishi himself was said to have carved the image and used it in Goma sacred fire rituals that helped stop a rebellion during his era. The rebellion in 940 also came to an end just as Kancho completed a three-week Goma ritual with the same image.
According to legend, the image of Acala became too heavy after the victory to move back to its home base, so a new temple on Narita-san, named Shinsho-ji (New Victory Temple), was built to enshrine it on the spot. The temple maintains that the original image is enshrined in the Main Hall, where it is displayed on special occasions, but art historians date the current image to no earlier than the 13th century.
Expansion
For over 600 years, Narita-san remained a remote, humble, provincial temple—until Tokugawa Ieyasu moved his capital to Edo in 1603. Ieyasu himself credited its abbot with converting him to Buddhism, and assigned the local Sakura Domain daimyo to be responsible for its upkeep. The military and political success associated with the temple may also have appealed to him, and the location of the temple, protecting the unlucky northeast approach to his new capital, corresponded to the position of the head temple of the Tendai sect, Enryaku-ji, relative to the old Heian capital of Kyoto. However, the shogunate did little to support the temple until Tokugawa Ietsuna reconstructed its Main Hall in 1655. That building now serves as a calligraphy classroom. Shingon founder Kobo Daishi (Kukai) was famous for his Japanese calligraphy.
But the person most responsible for promoting and enriching Narita-san was Ichikawa Danjuro I (1660–1704), one of the most influential actors of the golden age of kabuki. Born into a wealthy merchant family with ties to the Narita area, Danjuro relished his family's former samurai status by playing heroic characters doing noble deeds, developing in the process a rough, manly style known as aragoto. He was also a devout Buddhist with a particular devotion to Fudo myoo, to whom he gave credit for the safe birth of his son Kuzo, who went on to become Ichikawa Danjuro II (1688–1758). Kuzo played such a ferocious and convincing Fudo in his stage debut in 1697 that the audience responded with prayers and offerings as if they were before a temple deity. In 1703, Danjuro I wrote and starred in another play specifically about the Fudo at Shinsho-ji, The Avatars of the Fudo of Narita Temple, whose opening was timed to coincide with the traveling exhibit (... degaicho) of sacred images from Narita-san in Edo. Danjuro's immense popularity and his attachment to Fudo myoo at Shinsho-ji prompted many commoners of all classes to make regular pilgrimages from Edo to Narita-san."