西福寺, Buddhist temple in Kawaguchi, Japan.
Seifukuji is a Shingon Buzan-ha temple in Nishi-Tachino, Kawaguchi, with the mountain name Fudarakusan. Its grounds hold a Kannon hall enshrining 100 Kannon statues from the Saigoku, Bando and Chichibu pilgrimage routes, and a three-storey wooden pagoda about 23 metres tall, the tallest wooden structure in Saitama Prefecture.
According to tradition, the temple was founded during the Kōnin era (810–824) by Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi) to protect the nation. The three-story pagoda was completed on 27 March 1693 (Genroku 6), as recorded in an inscription on the ridge tag, and was donated by Chiyo-hime, eldest daughter of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third shogun. It was designated a Saitama Prefecture tangible cultural property on 28 March 1972.
The Kannon Hall holds 100 Kannon statues representing the Saigoku, Bando and Chichibu pilgrimage routes; worshipping in this one hall is said to bring the same merit as visiting all 100 sites. The three-storey pagoda, built by Chiyohime, daughter of Tokugawa Iemitsu, has twelve zodiac animals carved in the frog-leg brackets of its first storey.
Seifukuji is in the Oaza Nishitano area of Kawaguchi, about a 9-minute walk from Tozuka-angyo Station on the Saitama Rapid Railway. The three-storey pagoda is no longer open for climbing; visitors view it from the grounds.
The three-storey pagoda, completed on 27 March 1693, was built by Chiyo-hime, eldest daughter of the third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu. At about 23 metres it is the tallest wooden structure in Saitama Prefecture, and its first-storey frog-leg brackets (kaerumata) carry carvings of the twelve zodiac animals.
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