Saiko ji Temple

Mansho-zan Saiko-ji Temple
Myoshin-ji Sect of Rinzai-shu; Zen buddism
610 Shikiji, Kisa-Town, Miyoshi-city, Hiroshima Prefecture, JAPAN


Saiko-ji is located in Miyoshi city of the northern part of Hiroshima Pref.
and approx. 80 km from Hiroshima city to the northeast. Kisa-Town where the temple is situated is a quiet countryside with a population of 5000. The river
Basen streams through the centre Miyoshi city through the mountains.

Saiko-ji was established in March 1469 by zen master Jikin Hirata. The temple
is dedicated to the Amitabha. The Amitabha idol is small; hight 18cm and width
15cm. The bigger wooden statue of Amidabha holds the small one in the body
like in a womb. The small statue is exhibited only for once every 50 years. The last
exhibition was in 1981. The wooden statue is an important cultural property of the
Hirosahima Prefecture. It has shed tears in December 2004.
The bell of Saiko-ji was casted in 1799. It fortunately escaped the metal
mobilization during WW2 in this town. It is a cultural property of Miyoshi
city.
There are 400 years-old blackberry tree, 500 years-old oak tree, 350 years-old
maple trees and 300 years-old fir tree around the temple.

Many remarkable lifes inhabit the place. The great purple emperor butterfly;
Sasakia charonda,that is the national butterfly of Japan and a Near Threatened
species on the Red Data Book of Japan.
Also the Jewel Beetle


; the Buprestidae Leach.
the Lapis Lazuli Bee; the Chrysididae.
Oomurasaki, the Japanese Purple Emperor, is the National butterfly of Japan.
A tiny caterpillar climbs up from the leaf litter where it hibernated over winter.
But the colours that were a perfect camouflage in autumn will soon be dangerously conspicuous, for the caterpillar is climbing back into a changing world.

To survive, the caterpillar must follow suit.
Responding, like the forest, to the lengthening hours of daylight and the rising temperature, it sheds the skin that looks like a dead leaf and assumes the colours of a spring leaf. The caterpillar mimics the leaves on which it will keep feeding until it undergoes its final transformation into a butterfly of summer.
The caterpillar that emerged from the leaf litter has grown large and plump. Triggered by a combination of the rising temperature and its own internal body clock, it nears the end of one phase of its life and begins to discard a skin it will no longer need.It will never again feed on leaves so it drops the head and mouthparts it no longer needs.
Inside the hardened outer case of the pupa, the body will undergo an amazing transformation, the timing of which is crucial, for when it emerges as a butterfly it favours tree sap which is at its most abundant in summer.
After two weeks a butterfly emerges, it's a female.
The males have already appeared and established their territories. She rids herself of excess moisture in her body, then rests for a few hours to let her wings dry. Then she's ready to find a mate in the summer forest.