is a

Rinzai The Rinzai school (, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng), named after Linji Yixuan (Romaji: Rinzai Gigen, died 866 CE) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, along with Sōtō and Ōbaku. The Chinese Linji school of ...

temple in

Hakata is a ward of the city of Fukuoka in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Many of Fukuoka Prefecture and Fukuoka City's principal government, commercial, retail and entertainment establishments are located in the district. Hakata-ku is also the location o ...

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Its honorary '' sangō'' prefix is . It was founded by Enni-Ben'en upon his return from China, with support from

Xie Guo Ming Xie or Hsieh may refer to: Xie People *Xie of Xia (), legendary king of the Xia Dynasty *Xie of Shang (契), legendary nobleman *Xie, Marquis of Jin (; th century BC), ruler of the State of Jin *King Xie of Zhou (; BC) *Alexandra Kitchin (1864� ...

, a Chinese merchant. Construction was completed in 1242.

Introduction of udon, soba and manjū

Monument of birthplace of manju and udon

The founding priest of the temple, Enni-Ben'en went to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in 1235, mastered

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

Buddhism through great hardships and returned to Japan in 1241. Besides new teachings of Zen Buddhism, he brought back to Japan a variety of cultural features from China. The production methods of

udon Udon ( or ) is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, used in Japanese cuisine. There are a variety of ways it is prepared and served. Its simplest form is in a soup as with a mild broth called made from dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. It is usual ...

soba Soba ( or , "buckwheat") are Japanese noodles made primarily from buckwheat flour, with a small amount of wheat flour mixed in. It has an ashen brown color, and a slightly grainy texture. The noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sau ...

, yokan and

manjū is a traditional Japanese confection, usually a small, dense bun with a sweet filling. They come in many shapes and varieties. The standard manjū has a skin made of flour, and is filled with '' anko'' (sweet azuki bean paste). Some varie ...

are especially famous among them. It was during a begging round around Jōtenji Temple that Ennie first handed down the recipe of the

to a tea house owner who was kind and considerate with him. For the 21st century explorers of Hakata and its Jōtenji-dori Avenue, on most days, a popular type of manjū in Kyushu decorated adequately with a figure absorbed in zen meditation, is sold in the close vicinity of Jōtenji temple: The stall is located next to the Hakata Sennen Gate on Jōtenji-dori Avenue and is operated by a zen priest associated with Jōtenji Temple. This is surely the closest place where manjū is prepared and sold to the formal residence of the monk who brought the secret of

making to Japan in the middle of the 13th century. Houraku Manju

The origin of Fukuoka's most famous festival

Hakata Gion Yamakasa is the most famous festival of Fukuoka and it is held around Kushida Shrine and Hakata Ward as the main sites. The origin of the festival is believed to date back to 1241, when

Enni Enni Ben'en (圓爾辯圓; 1 November 1202 – 10 November 1280) or simply Enni, also known as Shōichi Kokushi, was a Japanese Buddhist monk. He started his Buddhist training as a Tendai monk. While he was studying with Eisai, a vision of ...

, the founder of Jotenji temple had people carry him around the town on a float while praying against the plague and eventually getting successfully rid of it.

Hakata Sennen Gate

The Hakata Sennen Gate (), the new symbol of the Hakata area, was completed at the entrance of Jōtenji-dori Avenue on March 28, 2014. It is a wooden four-legged gate with a tile roof, and was modeled on , the gateway of Hakata which appears in ancient documents. Height and length are each approximately 8 metres. It was named in the hope of prosperity for a thousand years in the future of the city of Hakata.

Cultural Properties

Important cultural property: * Wooden statue of Shakyamuni Buddha and two attendants * Six painted silk scrolls of six Zen Patriarchs * Bronze bell originating from the Korean Peninsula (Chosen period) with an inscription dating back to 1065. Fukuoka City designated tangible cultural property: (to be added later)

Shinan Ship

Joten-ji was one of the intended destinations of the cargo that the so called

Shinan ship The Shinan ship (also spelled "Sinan") was a 14th-century Chinese ship that sank near what are today the Shinan islands, South Korea, around the year 1323, and was discovered in 1975. It was likely to have been part of a trade fleet between Po ...

was to deliver from

Ningbo Ningbo is a sub-provincial city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the Eas ...

to Hakata which route was also one of the final sections of the historic

Maritime Silk Route The Maritime Silk Road or Maritime Silk Route is the maritime section of the historic Silk Road that connected Southeast Asia, East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian Peninsula, eastern Africa, and Europe. It began by the 2nd century BCE ...

. The ship sailed in the 14th century before it sank close to Korean shores due to bad weather conditions. This became apparent after the wreckage was found almost seven hundred years later: On some of the wooden tablets (or wooden tags) that were used customarily to identify the cargo, the Chinese calligraphy characters of Japanese temples such as a sub-temple of Joten-Ji temple could be clearly read. The main destination of the ship was Tofuku-ji Temple in Kyoto as a fire caused serious damage and materials for reconstruction as well as replacements for artifacts were needed.

Hakozaki Shrine is a Shintō Shinto shrines, shrine in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka .Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962). ''Studies in Shinto and Shrines,'' p. 339. History Hakozaki Shrine was founded in , with the transfer of the spirit of the ''kami Hachiman'' ...

in Hakata also had cargo in the ship.

References

External links

Yokanavi.com

Ceremony for Jōten-ji founder Enni (hosted on YouTube) part I

Ceremony for Jōten-ji founder Enni (hosted on YouTube) part II

Ceremony for Jōten-ji founder Enni (hosted on YouTube) part III

A short (30 sec) slideshow of Jōten-ji Temple (hosted on Vimeo)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joten-Ji Buddhist temples in Fukuoka Prefecture Rinzai school Buildings and structures in Fukuoka Tourist attractions in Fukuoka Hachiman faith Buildings and structures completed in 1242 Religious buildings and structures completed in the 1240s 13th-century Buddhist temples