When did Buddhism arrive in Japan?

Officially in 538 or 552, when the Korean kingdom of Baekje presented a Buddha image and sutras to the Japanese court. Private transmission through immigrants had likely begun even earlier.

What is the oldest temple in Japan?

Asuka-dera, completed in 596, was the first full-scale temple. Hōryū-ji near Nara, founded in 607 and rebuilt around 700, preserves the oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world.

Who was Prince Shōtoku?

Prince Shōtoku (574-622) was a regent of the Asuka court revered as the great early patron of Japanese Buddhism. Temples he reputedly founded, such as Shitennō-ji and Hōryū-ji, still thrive, and he was long pictured on Japanese banknotes.

Asuka period

Historical periods

飛鳥時代・ Reading: Asuka jidai

Definition

The era from 538 to 710 when Buddhism officially arrived from the Korean peninsula and the first full-scale temples in Japan were built. Nearly everything you see at a Japanese temple today has its starting point in the Asuka period.

Buddhism arrives

In 538 (or 552 by another chronicle) the king of Baekje on the Korean peninsula sent a Buddha image and sutras to the Japanese court, the official beginning of Japanese Buddhism. After a power struggle between the pro-Buddhist Soga clan and its rivals, the new religion took root under Prince Shōtoku, the regent celebrated as its great early patron. He is credited with the Seventeen-Article Constitution and with founding temples including Shitennō-ji in Osaka and Hōryū-ji near Nara.

The first temples

Asuka-dera, completed in 596 in the Asuka valley south of Nara, was the first full-scale temple in Japan, built with continental technology: tiled roofs, stone foundations, and a pagoda enshrining relics. Hōryū-ji, rebuilt around 700 after a fire, preserves the oldest wooden buildings in the world. The whole grammar of the Japanese temple, the pagoda, the main hall, the great south gate, the cloistered courtyard, was imported and perfected in these decades, and it still shapes every temple you visit today.

Common questions

When did Buddhism arrive in Japan?: Officially in 538 or 552, when the Korean kingdom of Baekje presented a Buddha image and sutras to the Japanese court. Private transmission through immigrants had likely begun even earlier.
What is the oldest temple in Japan?: Asuka-dera, completed in 596, was the first full-scale temple. Hōryū-ji near Nara, founded in 607 and rebuilt around 700, preserves the oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world.
Who was Prince Shōtoku?: Prince Shōtoku (574-622) was a regent of the Asuka court revered as the great early patron of Japanese Buddhism. Temples he reputedly founded, such as Shitennō-ji and Hōryū-ji, still thrive, and he was long pictured on Japanese banknotes.