Jōkan-ji

Jōkan-ji (浄閑寺) is a Buddhist temple in Arakawa, Tokyo, Japan. Its cemetery houses the remains of about 25,000 prostitutes and fire victims of the Yoshiwara quarter of the Edo period. A memorial to the dead was consecrated in the Meiji era.^[1]

Modern entrance of Jōkan-ji in Arakawa, Tokyo

Cemetery of Jōkan-ji

History

The temple was opened in 1655. The dead bodies of prostitutes of the Yoshiwara quarter who were too poor, which was the vast majority of them, were tucked into a hay mat and brought to the back entrance of the temple and left there. This is frequently and incorrectly claimed as the reason that the temple became popularly known as Nage-komi-dera (Throw-away temple).^[1]

See also

• Jōgan-ji (Nakano, Tokyo)
• Ubasute