Harima Kokubun-ji
is a Shingon-sect Buddhist temple in the Kokubunji neighborhood of the city of Himeji, Hyōgo, Japan. It claims to be the successor to the provincial temple established by Emperor Shōmu during the Nara period (710 – 794). Due to this connection, the foundation stones of the Nara period temple now located to the south of the present day complex were designated as a National Historic Site in 1921, with the area under protection was expanded in 1971 and 1985. History The Shoku Nihongi records that in 741, as the country recovered from a major smallpox epidemic, Emperor Shōmu ordered that a monastery and nunnery be established in every province, the . These temples were built to a semi-standardized template, and served both to spread Buddhist orthodoxy to the provinces, and to emphasize the power of the Nara period centralized government under the Ritsuryō system. The modern Harima Kokubun-ji is located on a river terrace on the left bank of the Ichi River in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture. The temple precincts overlap that of the ancient Kokubun-ji, which extended some 600 meters to the north, and faced the route of the ancient San'yōdō road to the south. The provincial