is a temple of the Myoshin-ji branch of Japanese

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 ...

School of

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 Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka is the easternmost of the three Wards of Japan, wards of the city of Shizuoka (city), Shizuoka in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. History Shimizu-ku was created on April 1, 2005, when Shizuoka became a city designated by government ordinance (a " ...

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 ...

History

According to the oral tradition, Shōgen-ji was initially built as a

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Dharma Flower School (天台法華宗, ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just ''Hokkeshū''), is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition with significant esoteric elements that was officially established in Japan in 806 by t ...

temple during Saicho's visit to Eastern Japan in 817. At that time, the temple's name was most likely written differently, i.e. as . Later, in the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

the temple was transferred to the Rinzai School and renamed to its present characters borrowing the characters of the Jōgen (also read as ''Shōgen'') imperial era (承元, 1207–11). Historically verifiable records indicate that during the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

the temple was selected as one of regional "peace-protection temples" by the Muromachi bakufu. It was burned to the ground during

Takeda Shingen was daimyō, daimyo of Kai Province during the Sengoku period of Japan. Known as "the Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyo of the late Sengoku period, and credited with exceptional military prestige. Shingen was based in a p ...

's invasion of Suruga. In the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

shrine named "Divine Protection Mountain" was added to the rebuilt temple's premises, hence the full title of the temple at present is . The present abbot of the temple is Zen master, Soiku Shigematsu

Location

Take a bus headed to Tadanuma Shako 但沼車庫 from

Okitsu Station is a railway station in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Tōkai). Lines Okitsu Station is served by the Tōkaidō Main Line, and is located 164.3 kilometers from the starting ...

(approx. 10 min) or Shimizu Station (approx. 30 min), exit at Shōgenji Mae 承元寺前, walk down across the river for 10 min. Otherwise take a taxi from Okitsu Station. Address: 299 Shōgenji-cho, Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Japan 424-0201.Myōshinji-ha Shūmuhonjo 妙心寺派宗務本所 (2007). ''Myōshinji-ha Jiinroku'' 妙心寺派寺院録. p. 180. Temple registry no. 2805.

References

External links

Coordinates and contact details in Japanese. Myoshin-ji temples Rinzai temples {{zen-stub