Eifuku-ji Temple, Buddhist temple in Kannonzakichō, Japan

Eifuku-ji is a Rinzai-shū Nanzen-ji school temple in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, with the mountain name Jūkansan and Senju Kannon as its principal image. The single-story hall shown has a dark tiled roof, dark wooden posts under a shallow eave, and sliding grilles with translucent panels; a framed inscription panel hangs on the right, and a five-step stone stair with a metal handrail leads up beside a trimmed hedge.

Prince Imseong of Baekje, son of King Seong, founded Eifuku-ji in 611 during the Suiko period, enshrining a Guanyin statue he carried as his personal protector. The monk Keian Genju later served as abbot after studying in Kyoto. In 1917 the halls, then aged, were moved uphill from the original site, now occupied by the Yamagin historical archive museum.

The temple is the 25th stop on the Chūgoku Thirty-Three Kannon Pilgrimage, and its Kannon image is tied to the area's name, Kannonzakichō. Each year on July 17, the temple holds a ghost festival (yūrei matsuri) on the anniversary of its founding. A stone marker notes that the site was the starting and ending point of the Sanyōdō and Akamagaseki roads.

Eifuku-ji stands uphill from its original site, moved there in 1917 when the old halls decayed; the former main hall dated from 1715 and was lost in the air raid of 2 July 1945. The temple is the 25th stop on the Chūgoku 33 Kannon pilgrimage, so expect pilgrims as well as sightseers. Its grounds lie in Kannonzakichō, a district named after the Kannon worshipped here.

The name means Temple of Eternal Fortune, reflecting its long-lasting presence as one of the oldest Buddhist establishments from the 7th century. Few visitors realize how rare it is to encounter such an ancient structure still actively used for worship.