What other travelers are saying about Shofukuji Temple
The oldest Zen temple in Japan and the peaceful gardens surrounding it are well worth a visit.
We came early in the morning and it was very quiet, apart from the sound of kids playing in the nearby school.
a large and tranquil temple complex and is believed to be the first Zen temple in Japan. a couple of magnificent wooden temples / buildings around, but all are not open to the public. after visiting the busy Tochoji Temple, we enjoyed the moment of quietness and calmness, and we wandered into the well-maintained garden with shady trees.
Shofukuji Temple is probably the earliest or the oldest Zen Sect Temple in Japan, and it was built in 1195, although its current Sanmon Gate was built in 1911. It worships Triad Buddhas for the Buddha of the Past, of the Present [which is Shakyamuni Buddha], and of the Future as main deities, and for Japanese Zen Buddhism, Three Buddhas are Shaka, Amida, and Miroku.
While the Temple seems to be intended to preserve its original building structures, garden, ponds, and others as much as possible, the Temple does show signs of aging and damage in the Temple yard/site, especially for the area around the pond.
Temple is free of charge for entrance, though there is NO bathroom or toilet inside the Temple. The Temple is in close walking distance from Tochoji Temple, but the road signs for the Shofukuji Temples are NOT well marked or posted for every major road which can be connected to the Temple.
it is the oldest zen temple in Japan. we spent quite sometime here because the temple compound was so beautiful and serene. it had a conservative history though, connected to statesmen complicit in the WW II.
