Shōfuku-ji, Buddhist temple in Shirahama, Japan
Shōfuku-ji is a Rinzai-shū Myōshin-ji branch temple in Katada, Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, with the mountain name Matsuo-san. Its main image is a Thousand-Armed Kannon. The grounds hold a noted garden called Tokuun-tei, and the temple is a fudasho on the Kumano Mandala Thirty-Three Sacred Sites pilgrimage.
Shōfuku-ji was founded during the Kan'ei era (1624–1643) by the Zen master Itchū Soten, who came upon the training site Hōun-an while travelling on foot through Japan and reorganized it as a temple. He did not take the founder's seat himself but named his own teacher, Kassan Tōkan, as founding abbot. The temple belongs to the Myōshin-ji branch of the Rinzai school, and its mountain name is Matsuo-san.
The temple garden is called Tokuun-tei. Shōfuku-ji is a stop on the Kumano Mandala Thirty-Three Sacred Sites pilgrimage circuit, and visitors can see pilgrims' marks left at the hall. The main image is a Thousand-Armed Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion.
The temple sits in an area that is easy to explore on foot, with clear pathways throughout the complex. It is best to wear comfortable shoes, as reaching the elevated garden involves some steps.
The temple's garden is called Tokuun-tei, and the temple serves as a stop on the Kumano Mandala Thirty-Three Sacred Sites pilgrimage circuit. The grounds began as a training site named Hōun-an before the monk Itchū Soten reorganized it into Shōfuku-ji.
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