Sanmon and Yamato (山門)

Sanmon
Another name for the main gate of a Buddhist temple. The word 'sanmon' (lit. mountain gate) is a remnant from the time when Buddhist temples were originally built on mountains, so that now even such gates of temples located on flatland are referred to as sanmon (please refer to 'Sanmon' and 'shichido garan.').

The term is also commonly used to refer to Buddhist temples in general. This developed from the above usage (refer to 'Buddhist Temple').

Another name for Enryaku-ji Temple. Onjo-ji Temple at the base of Mt. Hiei is referred to as the 'Jimon' whereas Enryaku-ji Temple located on Mt. Hiei is referred to as 'Sanmon' (please refer to 'Enryaku-ji Temple' and 'Mt. Hiei').

An abbreviation for the Sanmon School of the Tendai Sect headquartered at Mt. Hiei (refer to 'Tendai Sect').

The name ordinarily given to the 'Nanzenji Sanmon' scene of the second act of the kabuki play "Sanmon Gosan no Kiri" when performed independently (refer to 'Sanmon Gosan no Kiri').

Yamato
The name of a place that existed in Fukushima Prefecture prior to the great merger of municipalities in the Heisei era (refer to 'Yamato County').

[Original Japanese]