Jōchi-ji, Buddhist temple in Yamanouchi, Kamakura, Japan
Jōchi-ji is a Zen temple in the Yamanouchi district of Kamakura, ranked among the city's five great Zen monasteries. Moss-covered stone steps lead through the compound to a bell tower gate and the main hall with three seated Buddha figures.
Tokimune Hojo established the temple in 1281 as a memorial to his father and invited a Chinese Zen master to lead it. During the 14th century, the temple received the fourth rank among Kamakura's five great Zen monasteries.
The temple belongs to the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism and forms part of the Kamakura Gozan, the Kamakura Thirty-Three Kannon Pilgrimage, and the Thirteen Buddhist Sites.
The temple sits an eight-minute walk from Kita-Kamakura Station and opens from nine in the morning until half past four in the afternoon. The pathways can become slippery when wet due to the moss covering the stones.
The bell tower gate from 1340 ranks among the oldest surviving structures of its kind in the region. Several cave tombs are carved into the rock face, including one housing a statue of Hotei, the laughing Buddha of contentment.
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