Shōgo-in Temple

is a Buddhist temple in the Shogoin-Nakamachi neighborhood of Sakyō-ku in the city of Kyoto, Japan. Its honzon is an image of Fudō Myōō. It is also called the , and is the central temple of the Honzan school of Shugendō in Japan, and is the head temple that governs the "Kasumi" (regional organizations that control Shugendō practitioners) throughout the country. It boasted high status. Of the 37 head priests up until the Meiji period, 25 were from the imperial family and 12 were from the regent family. In the late Edo period, it was used as a temporary imperial palace twice, and in due to this connection, its precincts were designated a National Historic Site in 1937.

==History== Shōgo-in was founded by the monk Zōyo of Onjō-ji. Zōyo was a famous Shugendō monk, succeeding his master Enchin and carrying out the same training at Mount Ōmine in Kumano that his master had done. In 1090, he served as a guide for the retired Emperor Shirakawa on his pilgrimage to Kumano. For this achievement, Zōyo was appointed the first Kumano Sanzan Kengyō (the general manager of the Kumano Sanzan sacred sites), and was also bestowed Jōkō-ji, located near Kumano Shrine in Kyoto, which was believed to have been founded by En no Gyōja. He constructed Shōgo-in on the grounds of this shrine. However, the name "Shōgo-in" does not appear in documentary records until 1132, which was after Zōyo's death. After Zōyo, the successive head priests of Shōgo-in served as guides for the retired emperor on pilgrimages to Kumano. During the Heian period, pilgrimages to Kumano flourished. Later, Prince Shizue, son of the retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa, became monk at Shōgo-in, further strengthening its prestige, and thenceforth Shōgo-in was a monzeki temple who head was a member of the imperial family or a descendant of the regent family. Prince Kakusuke, son of the retired Emperor Go-Saga, held the position of monzeki for 70 years and also served as the abbot of Onjō-ji, the head priest of Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu, and the inspector of the three Kumano Sanzan. However, after his death the position of head priest became embroiled in the disputes between the Southern and Northern Courts, or within the Northern Court, leading the Muromachi shogunate to intervene in the succession.