興禪寺, Buddhist temple in Utsunomiya, Japan.

Kozen-ji is a Buddhist temple in Utsunomiya with a large seated Buddha statue positioned near the inner gate. The statue rests on a lotus flower base and serves as a focal point of the temple grounds.

Kozen-ji was founded in 1314 by Utsunomiya Sadatsuna, eighth head of the Utsunomiya clan, for the Zen master Shinkū Myōō, on a site that held a Jizō hall. It burned in 1549 when Mibu forces occupied the castle town after Utsunomiya Hissuna's death at Kitsuregawa, was revived by Utsunomiya Hirotsuna, then lapsed when Toyotomi Hideyoshi stripped Utsunomiya Kunitsuna of his lands. The Okudaira lords Okudaira Iemasa and Tadamasa later made it their family temple; fires in the Boshin War and World War II destroyed halls that were rebuilt after 1945.

The temple grounds are called Kahoku Zenrin, and the temple belongs to the Rinzai-shu Myoshin-ji school, with Shakyamuni as its principal image. Visitors can see the tombs of Utsunomiya Sadatsuna and Utsunomiya Kimitsuna, as well as those of the Okudaira lords Iemasa and Tadamasa. The temple also holds a wooden seated Shakyamuni statue designated a city tangible cultural property in 1958.

From the west exit of JR Utsunomiya Station, Kanto Bus services to Saiseikai Hospital, Fujimigaoka Danchi via Chikurin, Sawarawahara, Naidai and Kamidai Danchi stop at Imaizumi 1-chome in one minute; the temple is a three-minute walk from there. From Tobu Ekimae bus stop the same services take about ten minutes. The temple is also a ten-minute walk from the west exit of JR Utsunomiya Station.

The temple grounds hold the graves of Utsunomiya Sadatsuna, founder of the temple in 1314, and Utsunomiya Kimitsuna, as well as those of Okudaira Iemasa and Okudaira Tadamasa, the first two Okudaira lords of Utsunomiya Castle. The Okudaira father and son both chose Kozen-ji as their family burial temple.