is a

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...

located in

Gifu is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku ...

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, F ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The temple has strong ties to both

Saitō Dōsan , also known as Saitō Toshimasa (斎藤利政), was a Japanese samurai during the Sengoku period. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Saitō Dōsan"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 809. He was also known as the for his ruthless tactics. His hono ...

and

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...

.Gifu Sightseeing Guide: Sōfuku-ji
Gifu Prefecture Tourist Federation. Access June 10, 2008. Gifu's Sōfuku-ji is famed throughout Japan for both the number of monks it produces and for its "Blood Ceiling".''Gifu City Walking Map''. Gifu Lively City Public Corporation, 2007. Shortly after its founding, it was also known as Kōsai-ji (弘済寺), but that name is no longer used. It is also one of the

Mino Thirty-three Kannon The are a collection of Buddhist temples in southern Gifu Prefecture, Japan.Mino 33 Kannon
Mino Seig ...

History

Sōfuku-ji was originally built during the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

. However, because it suffered from much deterioration, Saitō Toshimasa moved and rebuilt the temple in 1511.Sōfuku-ji
. Sōfuku-ji. Accessed September 21, 2007. In 1517, he gave it its current name. According to other stories, though, it was originally built in 1469, by

Toki Shigeyori was a leading military commander during the Muromachi period in Mino Province (modern-day Gifu Prefecture), Japan. The characters for his name can also be read as Toki Nariyori. He became the eighth head of the Toki clan at the age of 15

and Saitō Nagahiro, and it was officially opened in 1493. When Oda Nobunaga moved into Gifu in 1567, he claimed Sōfuku-ji as his family temple.Sofuku-ji
. Gifu City Convention and Visitors Bureau. Accessed September 21, 2007. After Nobunaga and his son, Nobutada, died during the

Incident at Honnō-ji Incident may refer to: * A property of a graph in graph theory * ''Incident'' (film), a 1948 film noir * Incident (festival), a cultural festival of The National Institute of Technology in Surathkal, Karnataka, India * Incident (Scientology), a ...

in 1582, many of their personal treasures were moved to the temple. In 1600, when

Oda Hidenobu , the son of Oda Nobutada, was a samurai who lived during the Azuchi-Momoyama period in the late-16th century. He was a convert to Catholicism. His other name was Sanbōshi (三法師). Succession dispute When Oda Nobutada and Oda Nobunaga, Hid ...

was responding to

Ishida Mitsunari Ishida Mitsunari (, 1559 – November 6, 1600) was a Japanese samurai and military commander of the late Sengoku period of Japan. He is probably best remembered as the commander of the Western army in the Battle of Sekigahara following the A ...

's call for assistance,

Fukushima Masanori was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the late Sengoku period to early Edo period who served as lord of the Hiroshima Domain. A retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he fought in the Battle of Shizugatake in 1583, and soon became known as one of Seven Spears ...

and

Ikeda Terumasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. His court title was '' Musashi no Kami''. Terumasa was also known by the nickname ''saigoku no shōgun'', or, "The ''Shōgun'' of Western Japan". Terumasa fought in many of the battles of the ...

sieged the castle and destroyed it during the

Battle of Gifu Castle The was a battle in August 1600 that led to the destruction of Gifu Castle in Gifu, Gifu, Gifu, Mino Province (modern-day Gifu Prefecture), Japan. The battle served as a prelude to the Battle of Sekigahara the following month. It pitted Oda Hide ...

. Hidenobu's vassals died during this siege and, after the destruction of the castle, the blood-stained floor of the castles main tower was used to create the new "Blood Ceiling" in the temple. 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 ...

, the temple received much support from the government and, as a result, prospered. It also became a prayer place for the

Arisugawa-no-miya The was one of the shinnōke, branches of the Imperial Family of Japan which were, until 1947, eligible to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne in the event that the main line should die out. History The Arisugawa-no-miya house was founded by Pr ...

. Also,

Tokugawa Iemitsu Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光, August 12, 1604 – June 8, 1651) was the third ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada with Oeyo, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lady Kasuga was his wet nurse, who a ...

supported this temple immensely because his wet nurse as a child,

Lady Kasuga was a Japanese noble lady and politician from a prominent Japanese samurai family of the Azuchi–Momoyama and Edo periods. Born Saitō Fuku (斉藤福), she was a daughter of Saitō Toshimitsu (who was a retainer of Akechi Mitsuhide). She was t ...

, who was the daughter of

Saitō Toshimitsu was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period. He was a castle commander of Kuroi Castle. He was a retainer of Inaba Ittetsu, but later joined Akechi Mitsuhide. Oda Nobunaga was not pleased that Toshimitsu chose to work under Mitsuhide, and i ...

, a relative of Dōsan.

References

Images

File:崇福寺 (岐阜市)-山門から境内を望むsoufukuji003.jpg File:崇福寺 (岐阜市)-境内Soufukuji005.jpg File:崇福寺 (岐阜市)-鐘楼soufukuji007.jpg File:崇福寺 (岐阜市)-中門 (勅使門)Soufukuji013.jpg File:崇福寺 (岐阜市)-本堂前庭石庭Soufukuji017.jpg File:崇福寺 (岐阜市)-本堂soufukuji020.jpg File:崇福寺 (岐阜市)-本堂血天井Soufukuji026.jpg File:崇福寺 (岐阜市)-本堂内部soufukuji028.jpg File:崇福寺 (岐阜市)-本堂から石庭を望むsoufukuji021.jpg File:崇福寺 (岐阜市)-織田信長父子廟を望むsoufukuji039.jpg File:崇福寺 (岐阜市)-織田信長・信忠父子廟Soufukuji040.jpg File:崇福寺 (岐阜市)-信長、信忠父子の位牌堂Soufukuji044.jpg File:崇福寺 (岐阜市)-読経堂soufukuji042.jpg File:崇福寺 (岐阜市)-斎藤利匡一族の墓soufukuji047.jpg {{DEFAULTSORT:Sofuku-ji Gifu Buildings and structures in Gifu Buddhist temples in Gifu Prefecture

History

See also

References

Images