is a

Rinzai The Rinzai school ( ja, , Rinzai-shū, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (along with Sōtō and Ōbaku). The Chinese Linji school of Chan was first transmitted to Japan by Myōan E ...

temple in

Hakata-ku, Fukuoka 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 ...

, Japan. Its honorary '' sangō'' prefix is . The temple was founded by the monk in Dazaifu in 1240, but was moved to its present location in 1600 after it became the Kuroda family temple.

History

The Sōfuku-ji (, literally temple of sublime happiness) in

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, 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 ancie ...

(Japan) is a Buddhist temple of the

school (Rinzai-shū). It was in 1240 at the headquarters of the Special Administrative Dazaifu by the monk Tan'e (湛慧 founded). In the following year, the monk Enni Ben’en (円爾弁円), who had also returned from China, gave the inauguration sermon. Together with the Jōten Temple ( built in Hakata in 1241, it was under the control and protection of the general Mutō Sukeyori (1160-1228), who resided in Daizaifu as a representative of the

Kamakura shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Y ...

. In 1272, this temple was inhabited by

Nanpo Shōmyō Nanpo Shōmyō (Japanese: なんぽしょうみょう, Kanji: 南浦紹明; 1235 – 9 February 1309) is a Japanese Zen monk of Rinzai school during the Kamakura period. Although his exact origin is unknown, he is from Inomiya village, Abe Dis ...

(also known as Daiō Kokushi), who seriously expanded it. Nampo spent thirty years there. It is believed that the monastery was built just for him.Heinrich Dumoulin. ''Zen Buddhism: a History. Japan''. s. 39.
Internet. In 1331,

Shuho Myocho - Japanese Zen master of the rinzai school, also known as Daitō Kokushi (大燈國師). All the lines of transmission in the rinzai school today are from his teacher. He was the founder and first abbot of the Daitoku-ji (大德寺) in Ky ...

left Daitoku-ji for one hundred days, only to spend it in Sōfuku-ji. During the

Azuchi Momoyama period was a town located in Gamō District, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 12,217 and a density of 502.76 persons per km². The total area was 24.30 km². On March 21, 2010, Azuchi was merged into the ...

, the facility burned down in 1586 during fighting between the

Shimazu clan The were the ''daimyō'' of the Satsuma han, which spread over Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan. The Shimazu were identified as one of the '' tozama'' or outsider ''daimyō'' familiesAppert, Georges ''et al.'' (1888). in contrast ...

and the

Ōtomo clan was a Japanese samurai family whose power stretched from the Kamakura period through the Sengoku period, spanning over 400 years. The clan's hereditary lands lay in Kyūshū. Origins The first family head, Ōtomo Yoshinao (1172–1223), took ...

. With the establishment of the

Fukuoka Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Chikuzen Province in modern-day Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. The domain was also sometimes referred to as Chikuzen Domain, or as Kuroda Domain, after the ruling Kuroda ...

by the commander

Kuroda Nagamasa was a ''daimyō'' during the late Azuchi–Momoyama and early Edo periods. He was the son of Kuroda Kanbei, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's chief strategist and adviser. Biography His childhood name was Shojumaru (松寿丸). In 1577, when Nagamasa was a ...

(1568-1623) in 1600, this was the temple as a family temple in Hakata again build.Cobbing, S. 47ff. This temple has become a famous connection point between Japan and China. Many Chinese monks who came to Japan and many Japanese monks who went to China passed through it. Nampo himself turned out to be a master who attracted many students here, encouraged by his devotion to teaching Zen. Master Nampo described his practice in Sōfuku-ji in Sōfuku-ji gorok . It was in this temple that Nampo developed his national responsibility expressed in terms such as "Great Nation of Japan" or "Great State of Japan". When building the castle town of Fukuoka, materials from older buildings and facilities were used. A

Karamon The is a type of gate seen in Japanese architecture. It is characterized by the usage of ''karahafu'', an undulating bargeboard peculiar to Japan. ''Karamon'' are often used at the entrances of Japanese castles, Buddhist temples and Shinto sh ...

gate comes from the Najima Castle (, ''Najima-jō'') located on a headland, which was demolished in 1601 because the surrounding area was insufficient for the development of a larger settlement. Many stones were used in the new Fukuoka Castle. During the suppression of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

and its separation from

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

(

Haibutsu kishaku (literally "abolish Buddhism and destroy Shākyamuni") is a term that indicates a current of thought continuous in Japan's history which advocates the expulsion of Buddhism from Japan. Under the shogunate, obtaining the permission to open or cl ...

) in the early

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, the facilities fell apart. Reconstruction began in 1895. In 1918 the main gate of Fukuoka Castle was implemented and has since served as a temple portal (''Sanmon'', literally "mountain gate"). In 1945 the city of

was again heavily damaged by the US Air Force. Among other things, the famous tea room of the merchant and tea master Kamiya Sōdan (1551-1635) went up in flames. After the war, the remaining burial grounds of the Kuroda rulers were restored and concentrated on a fifth of the former area. In 2005, three buildings were lost to fire. In 2014, the Kuroda family handed over the remaining Kuroda graves from the Edo period to the city of Fukuoka. In the same year, the short stairway (''sandō'') from the street to the temple portal was expanded. The devotional items shops were also reduced and implemented. On the inside of the outer wall in the publicly accessible front temple area there is a long, covered walkway with hundreds of large and small statues from many different Buddhist denominations that were deposited there by believers.

Significant tombs

In addition to the members of the Kuroda dynasty, other personalities of regional and national importance found their final resting place in the cemetery of the Sōfuku Temple, such as the trader and tea master Shimai Sōshitsu (1539–1650) and the male-educated ophthalmologist Takaba Osamu (1831–1891), who exerted a great influence on numerous personalities of the

through their "ginseng field school", also the first president of the Fukuoka Medical School

Ōmori Harutoyo was a Japanese surgeon who became the first president of the Fukuoka Medical College that was founded in 1903 as a branch of the Medical Faculty of Kyoto University, Kyōto University (''Kyōto teikoku daigaku Fukuoka ika-daigaku'', now the Fac ...

(1852-1912) and members of the nationalist organization

Gen'yōsha The was an influential Pan-Asianist group and secret society active in the Empire of Japan, and was considered to be an ultranationalist group by General Headquarters in the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. Foundation as the Ko ...

such as

Tōyama Mitsuru was a Japanese right wing and ultranationalist founder of Genyosha (''Black Ocean Society'') and Kokuryukai (''Black Dragon Society''). Tōyama was a strong advocate of Pan Asianism (Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere). Early life Tōyama ...

and Kurushima Tsuneki.

Important objects

* Sanmon - was originally the main gate of the former Fukuoka Castle. This building is single-story; the roof is covered with tiles, and on the left side there is a side door that is a remnant of the gate's former function. It is considered an important cultural property of the prefecture. * Karamon - it is believed to be part of the former Najim castle. During the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

it was renewed. It is considered an important cultural property of the prefecture. * Tomb of Shimai Soshitsu, a famous trader of the Edo period. * Numerous important items belonging to monks, including Sengai Gibon. * Old Korean Korai bell. * Votive plaque donated to the monastery by

Emperor Go-Toba was the 82nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1183 through 1198. This 12th-century sovereign was named after Emperor Toba, and ''go-'' (後), translates literally as "later"; an ...

(Japanese 後鳥羽, lord 1183-1198).

Literature

* Andrew Cobbing: ''Hakata – The Cultural Worlds of Northern Kyushu''. Brill, Leiden 2013. * Heinrich Dumoulin : History of Zen Buddhism . Volume 2: Japan. Francke, Bern and Munich 1986 (reprint 2nd edition, Francke, Bern and Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-7720-8516-1)

Gallery

File:Soufukujifukuoka01.jpg, Sanmon File:崇福寺山門.jpg, Sanmon File:Karamon of Sofukuji Temple.JPG, Karamon File:Path heading for Kuri in Sofukuji Temple.JPG, The road to Kuri in the monastery File:View of Kuri and Bell Tower of Sofukuji Temple.JPG, Kuri and the bell tower File:Mahavira Hall of Sofukuji Temple.JPG, The building of Mahavira (Great Conqueror, i.e.

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

) File:Jizodo of Sofukuji Temple.JPG, Jizō Pavilion ( Ksitigarbha) File:Asahi-Jizo-Sofuku-ji-Fukuoka.jpg, Interior of the Asahi- Jizō-Hall File:Hyakudoishi Stone in front of Jizodo of Sofukuji Temple.jpg, Hyakudo-ishi - "stone of a hundred prayers" in front of the Ksitigarbha pavilion File:Shinsoan Temple in Sofukuji Temple.JPG, Shinsō-an temple File:Statue of Ksitigarbha in Sofukuji Temple.JPG, Statue of Ksitigarbha (Japanese Jizō) File:Fukujukaimuryoto Tower in Sofukuji Temple.JPG, Fukujukaimuryoto tower File:Gate of Cemetery of Kuroda Clan in Sofukuji Temple.JPG, Gate of the Kuroda family cemetery File:View of Cemetery of Kuroda Clan in Sofukuji Temple.JPG, The Kuroda family cemetery File:Stele of Kuroda Nagamasa in Sofukuji Temple.jpg,

Stela A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

Kuroda Nagamasa File:Stele of Kuroda Yoshitaka in Sofukuji Temple.jpg, Stela Kuroda Yoshitaka File:Wall and Cemetery of Sofukuji Temple.JPG, Wall and cemetery File:来嶋恆喜之墓.jpg, Cemetery File:玄洋社墓地.jpg, Cemetery File:Zen Garden of Shinsoan Temple in Sofukuji Temple.JPG, Zen garden

References

External links

May's Fukuoka City Guide
Buddhist temples in Fukuoka Prefecture Daitoku-ji temples Rinzai temples Buildings and structures in Fukuoka Buildings and structures in Japan destroyed during World War II Tourist attractions in Fukuoka Dazaifu, Fukuoka {{zen-stub