Chokugan-ji Temples (勅願寺)

Chokugan-ji Temples were temples for prayer founded at the will of the emperors and the retired emperors of the time to pray for the protection of the nation and the prosperity of the Imperial Household.

In reality, there are also many temples that were made Chokugan-ji temples by Imperial sanction after their founding. A temple designated as a Chokugan-ji Temple could also receive land, and there had been cases since the Sengoku Period (Period of Warring States) of temples that tried to achieve the status for this reason.

The Chokugan-ji Temple designation was used until the early Meiji period but was abolished under the edict ordering the separation of Shinto and Buddhism.

Main Chokugan-ji Temples

Yakushi-ji Temple (Hosso Sect, Nara City)
Todai-ji Temple (Kegon Sect, Nara City)
Kiyomizu-dera Temple (Shingon Sect > Hosso Sect, Kiyoto City)
Ninna-ji Temple (Shingon Sect, Kyoto City)
Daigo-ji Temple (Shingon Sect, Kyoto City)
Nyoirin-ji Temple (Jodo Sect (the Pure Land Sect of Buddhism), Yoshino District, Nara Prefecture)
Ryosen-ji Temple (Shingon Sect, Nara City)
Myoken-ji Temple (Nichiren Sect, Kyoto City)
Myoshin-ji Temple (Rinzai Sect, Kyoto City)
Daitoku-ji Temple (Rinzai Sect, Kyoto City)
Rinsho-ji Temple (Shingon Sect, Sennan City, Osaka Prefecture)
Taisan-ji Temple (Tendai Sect, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture)
Nyoi-ji Temple (Tendai Sect, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture)
Dojo-ji Temple (Tendai Sect, Hidakagawa-cho, Hidaka-gun, Wakayama Prefecture)
Kanzeon-ji Temple (Tendai Sect, Dazaifu City, Fukuoka Prefecture)
Many more

[Original Japanese]