JPN: Tocho-ji & Shofuku-ji

[Tocho-ji]
2-4 Gokushomachi, Hakata, Fukuoka, Japan
Daily: 9.00am - 5.00pm

Tocho-ji and Shofuku-ji are two Buddhist temples of different sects, which are located not far from Kushida Shrine. My BFFs and I dropped by Tocho-ji first, which was founded in 806, making it the oldest Shingon Buddhist temple in the entire Kyushu region. The cover photo below was taken at Shofuku-ji, a Zen Buddhist temple.


One of the buildings housed the largest statue of a seated Buddha in the whole of Japan, but we didn't get to see it since we reached the temple just before it closed.


The original temple actually burned down at the end of the 16th century, which was then relocated
to the present site by Kuroda Tadayuki, the second lord of Fukuoka province.


There's a small fee of ¥50 (~S$0.60) per person to see the wooden statue.
We managed to take a look at the interior of the main hall before it was closed.



Rokkaku-do is a hexagonal building that contains revolving bookshelves for sutras and sculptures. It's open on the 28th of every month.


Below are three other photos that I managed to snap before going to Shofuku-ji.




There are graves of feudal lords who ruled Fukuoka during the Edo Period.
[Shofuku-ji]
6 Gokushomachi, Hakata, Fukuoka, Japan
Daily: 24 hours

Completed in 1195, Shofuku-ji is the oldest Zen Buddhist temple in Japan.

The temple buildings aren't open to visitors, but feel free to walk around the grounds.
 

 

In front of Sanmon Gate is a small pond with a bridge.


Enjoying the serenity of the temple grounds, especially since no one else was there~

 

I tried to fully decipher what's written there, but I failed rather miserably.
I admit we spent at least 10 minutes trying to capture various shots of the maple tree near one of the buildings.



Which of the three photos do you like the most?
We only saw one priest while we tried to find a way out of the grounds via a different route.


Is the arrow pointing to the drain? Just me being silly!
 

The last photo in this post shows something unexpected.



We wondered whether that truck illegally tried to take a shortcut,
but apparently there's a carpark in the middle of that path.
Though much reduced in size due to World War II, Shofuku-ji is still an amazing heritage site exemplifying the traditional Zen Buddhist temple layout.

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