A young Tokugawa Ieyasu had been allied with Imagawa Yoshimoto in 1560 when the Imagawa were defeated by Oda Nobunaga in the Battle of Okehazama. Ieyasu had fled to the family temple seeking refuge, where the chief priest of Daiju-ji saved him from committing ritual suicide.

Because of this kindness, Tokugawa Ieyasu’s will stipulated that while his body was to be buried at Kunozan, and his spirit enshrined at Nikko, his mortuary tablet was to be kept at the family temple in Okazaki. The temple contains the mortuary tablets of each successive Shogun, standing the same height as the actual shogun himself.

The grounds contain a cemetery for eight generations of the Matsudaira clan, monuments for generations of Tokugawa Shogun, and a wooden statue of Ieyasu at age 73. Many of the gates, the treasure hall, Taho Buddhist tower and bell tower, the main buildings, as well as the Buddhist images, carvings and calligraphy contained within are designated national cultural properties. The wall murals in the Abbots Chambers are particularly beautiful, and the view from the Sanmon gate is intriguing. As you look along the boulevard leading to the temple, through a number of gates, directly in the distance, you can see the keep of Okazaki Castle, Ieyasu’s birthplace.

You can feel the history and enjoy the ancient architecture and atmosphere at Daiju-ji Temple, the temple of the Shogun.