Hidenin
History, Heritage & Religion

Hidenin (悲田院) were like early hospitals for the impoverished, orphaned and those too ill to care for themselves. Records first mention a structure that bore this name, as a sub-temple of Sennyuji Temple in Nara prior to 794 CE. During the Heian period the capital was moved from Nara to Kyoto and two more hidenin were built, one in the eastern part of the city and the other in the west.

Eventually their status as a hospital ward on temple grounds faded, though the historical record is not clear on when this was. By the beginning of the 1300s a new hidenin was built in Kyoto with historical records describing it as a location where four sects of Buddhism (Tendai, Shingon, Zen and Jodo) could all be studied together. No mention was made of it caring for the ill. By the 1300s and 1400s the term "hidenin" seemed to have diverged from its original meaning and no longer was associated with treating the sick and indigent. Today there are some mondern nursing homes for the elderly that bear the "hidenin" name.

Relevance to MAO

In Mao chapter 80 it is revealed that Natsuno was severely ill during the Heian period and in the aftermath of their temple's destruction, Kamon later found her as an invalid slowly dying in a hidenin.