Shorin-in and Raigo-in are two ancient halls where the Tendai Sect of Buddhism developed its shomyo (Buddhist hymns). The alien sounds of this special chanting have filled the mountainsides for centuries, bringing a mysticism to the misty woodland and mossy lanes. Shomyo hymns are intoned in one voice or by a chorus of monks, similar to Gregorian chant. The special hymns were brought to Japan via China (via India) in the Nara Period (710-784) and were developed by all the competing sects of the time. Nowadays Tendai shomyo and Shingon shomyo are the two mainstreams. The influence of shomyo spread to jyoruri, gidayu, nagauta and kiyomoto (folk songs), thus is viewed by many as being the fountainhead of Japanese music.
Jakugen (son of the minister Minamoto Masanobu) erected Shorin-in in 1013 as a centre of learning for Buddhist hymns. He was a disciple of Ennin, 794-864, who had visited China and introduced shomyo and bonbai. Ennin himself studied under Tendai's founder, Saicho. Raigo-in (now the oldest building of the Tendai Sect) was likewise founded in 1109 to teach shomyo. It was founded by the priest Ryonin (1072-1132). Ohara soon establised itself as the heart of Tendai's incantations: Shorin-in and Raigo-in being the main halls of Gyosan Taigenji. Gyozan -Ohara's second name- refers to Mt. Yu in China where shomyo originated. Both halls are subtemples of Enryaku-ji on Mt. Hiei. At the height of Tendai's influence in the late 12th century, Gyozan boasted 49 temples, many of which burnt in fires during November 1426.
During the Fujiwara Era (1000-1200) Ohara became the home and training centre for monks who had resigned from the Mt. Hiei Temple, having become secularized. Raigo-in, under Ryonin, unified the different styles of shomyo and came to be their main home. Ohara became known as the 'echoes of nice sounds'.
