Zendō-ji (善導寺), also called Daihonzan Zendō-ji (大本山善導寺) is a

Jōdo-shū Jōdo-shū (浄土宗, "The Pure Land School"), is a Japanese branch of Pure Land Buddhism derived from the teachings of the Kamakura era monk Hōnen (1133–1212). The school is traditionally considered as having been established in 1175 and i ...

Buddhist temple in

Kurume is a city in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 295,367 in 137,140 households, and a population density of 1309 people per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kurume is located in the Chikugo Plain ...

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...

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

Zendō-ji was founded in 1191 by Benchō and by the governor of Chikugo Province, Kusano Eihei (the uncle of Ikko Shunsho). It was originally called Komyo-ji Temple, but in 1217 it was renamed Zendō-ji Temple and became the base of the

Chinzei sect in

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

. It burned down during war 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 ...

, but was rebuilt in the early

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 ...

with the patronage of Tanaka, the lord of

Yanagawa domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now eastern Fukuoka Prefecture. It was centered around Yanagawa Castle in what is now the city of Yanagawa, Fukuoka and was ruled by the ''tozama da ...

. In 1616, Tadamasa Tanaka invited the Tosho Gongen Shrine to enshrine

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

. When the Tanaka clan died out without an heir and Chikugo Province was divided into the

Yanagawa Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now eastern Fukuoka Prefecture. It was centered around Yanagawa Castle in what is now the city of Yanagawa, Fukuoka and was ruled by the ''tozama da ...

and the

Kurume Domain 270px, Arima Yorishige, final daimyo of Kurume Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Chikugo Province in modern-day Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Ja ...

, the temple came under the control of the Kurume Domain's lord, the

Arima Clan The is a Japanese samurai family. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)">DF 6-7 of 80">"Arima," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', pp. 2-3 In 2013, a statue of Hōnen Shonin was made and enshrined in the main hall. In 2016, the grave of Tachibana Ginchiyo">Hōnen">Hōnen Shonin was made and enshrined in the main hall. In 2016, the grave of Tachibana Ginchiyo, whose location had been unknown but had been mentioned in ancient documents, was discovered on the temple's grounds.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zendo-ji (Kurume) Jōdo-shū temples Kurume Buddhist temples in Fukuoka Prefecture Buildings and structures in Fukuoka Prefecture