Iwaya (Taishi)

Iwaya

岩屋
Iwaya
Iwaya Show map of Osaka Prefecture Iwaya (Taishi) (Japan) Show map of Japan
Location	Taishi, Osaka, Japan
Region	Kansai region
Coordinates	34°31′13″N 135°40′35″E / 34.52028°N 135.67639°E / 34.52028; 135.67639
History
Periods	Heian period
Site notes
Public access	Yes (no facilities)
National Historic Site of Japan

The Iwaya (岩屋) is an ancient ruined cave-temple located in the Yamada neighborhood of the town of Taishi, Minamikawachi District, Osaka in the Kansai region of Japan. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1948.^[1]

The Iwaya is located on the south slope of the Iwaya Pass at an elevation of 360 meters, to the east of Rokutan-ji temple ruins. It consist of two shallow artificial caves cut into a tuff cliff facing west-southwest. The larger cave has a width of 7.6 meters, height of 6.1 meters and depth of 4.5 meters, and contains three carvings in bas relief in the center. There is a smaller cave on the same cliff to the south with a stone pagoda. The carving is damaged, but it was at least three stories, and the remaining height is 2.1 meters. The cave-temple is located along the route of the Takenouchi Kaido, an ancient highway which connected Asuka and Yamato Province with the seacoast of Osaka Bay. This was the route taken by the Japanese missions to Imperial China during the Asuka and Nara periods, and this type of cave-temple was common on the Asian continent, but was very rare for Japan.^[2]

There is no documentary record of when the cave-temple was made, but it is believed to have been founded in the first half of the 9th century, based on a quantity of coins dated 796 AD which have been found at the site.^[2] There is a local legend which states that this was the location where Chūjō-hime wove the Taima mandala.

• 
  Iwaya larger cave
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  Iwaya smaller cave
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  Panoramic view

• List of Historic Sites of Japan (Osaka)

Media related to Iwaya (Taishi, Osaka) at Wikimedia Commons

• Taishi town home page