Kokubun-ji (国分寺) were Buddhist temples established in each of the provinces of Japan by Emperor Shōmu during the Nara period (710 – 794).^[1]

Shōmu (701 – 756?) decreed both a kokubun-ji for monks and a kokubunni-ji (国分尼寺) for nuns to be established in each province. Tōdai-ji, the provincial temple of Yamato Province, served as the head of all kokubun-ji, and Hokke-ji held that duty for the kokubunni-ji.

Modern place names based on this etymology include:

• Kokubunji, Kagawa
• Kokubunji, Tokyo
• Kokubunji, Tochigi

• 735–737 Japanese smallpox epidemic
• Fuchū
• Glossary of Japanese Buddhism
• Ichinomiya (primary shrines of the province)
• Soja shrine (shrines that consolidated the deity for every province)
• Kokufu