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'', also known as '', was a temple in Asuka in what is today Nara Prefecture dating from the 6th century. The original structure was completed in 596 under the orders of Soga no Umako. According to the ''Nihongi'' (and as described in the Empress Suiko section of ''Fusō-ryakuki'', which was compiled by the monk Kōen during the early thirteenth century).
When relics of Buddha were deposited inside the foundation stone under the pillar of a pagoda at Hōkō-ji (January 15, 593), the event was witnessed by Great Minister Soga Umako together with a hundred people who had had appeared wearing Paekche clothes. Buddhism was very new to Japan at the time, and so the first two abbots of the temple were Koreans.

★ -- see Asuka Historical Museum website

★ -- see Asuka-dera in context of other Buddhist temples

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Gango-ji in Nara

References

Gango-ji in Nara

The '', also known as , in Nara in what is today Nara Prefecture is known as Japan's first Buddhist temple.
In 718, the building was removed from its original site in Asuka to two new locations in Nara.
The original temple was now split into two: one authentic Gango-ji in the city's Chuin-cho area, and another authentic Gangoji in the Shibanoshin-ya-cho area. The Chuin-cho Gango-ji is a World Heritage site and is notable for its Hondo (main hall) and Zenshitsu (zen room).

★ -- see Gango-ji as world heritage site (JAL)

★ -- see Gango-ji as world heritage site (UNESCO)

★ -- see Gango-ji in context of Nara tourism
The ''Man'yōshū'' includes a poem attributed to a monk of Gango-ji. This poet laments that, having attained enlightenment, his greater understanding remains unnoticed by others in the streets of Nara. His poem may perhaps bemoan his undervalued condition -- and yet, in a modest way, his words transport contemporary readers momentarily back to share his quiet, 8th century perspective:
:::A White gem unknown of men --
::: Be it so if no one knows!
:::Since I myself know its worth
:::Although no other --
:::Be it so if no one knows!
:::: -- A monk of the Gango-ji Temple^[1]

References

1. Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai. (1969). ''The Manyōshū,'' p. 237.