Rinko-in was established after the early death of Ashikaga Yoshitsugu (also known formally as Rinko), second child of the third Ashikaga shogun Yoshimitsu and younger brother of the fourth Ashikaga shogun Yoshimochi, at the age of 25 in the first month of Oei 25 (1418). The temple was founded to pray for his happiness in the next world, and a shrine dedicated to Muso Soseki was transferred here. It was built on the former residence of the poet Ki Tsurayuki in Kyoto’s Nijo Nishi-no-Kyo.
After the Onin War, Rinko-in was moved to the side of Toji-in, and after that, it was transferred a number of times again; however, due to the frequently rotating chief priests, the exact details are unclear. Around the Genki Era (1570-72), while high priest Unshuku Shuetsu was in charge of the temple, he helped Toyotomi Hideyoshi in his expeditions to the Ming Dynasty and Korea. Hideyoshi rewarded him by giving Rinko-in its own land, which is located on the mountain of Shokoku-ji. Thus, Master Unshuku was the founding figure in Rinko-in’s revival.
In Keicho 5 (1600), during the Battle of Sekigahara, Shimazu Yoshihiro broke through both warring factions and hid in Iga Province. A wealthy Osakan merchant with whom Shimazu had been long-time friends, Tanabeya Imai Doyo, rushed to his hideout, giving him a ride on a ship from Sakai Harbor and escorting him safely back to Satsuma.
As appreciation for his outstanding actions, Shimazu relayed to him secret Satsuma medicinal arts. (This is the origin of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharmaceuticals.) Later, when Doyo grew old and became unable to meet Yoshihiro in Satsuma, Yoshihiro had a statue of himself, built in the style of a Buddhist monk, and sent it to Doyo. Doyo had the Shorei-in temple built within Sumiyoshi Shrine, where that statue is now kept. After Yoshihiro’s death, his mortuary tablet was placed in the shrine, but when Shorei-in later fell into disrepair, Doyo’s descendant, Inuigake Bonjiku, became the fifth chief priest of Rinko-in and had Yoshihiro’s statue and mortuary tablet moved there. The Shimazu family then held a service for the transfer of the shrine. Because of this connection to the Satsuma domain, some Satsuma retainers still have graves in the Rinko-in graveyard today.
Tokugawa Ieyasu and his great Confucian teacher, Fujiwara Seika, are also interred there. In 1874, the temple, impoverished and in shambles, was finally abolished. It was revived in 1919 by the chief abbot of Shokoku-ji, Hashimoto Dokusan, who then became the head priest of the temple.
The current building is located in Nishi-ojimura, Hino-cho, Gamo-gun, Shiga Prefecture; the Nishoji domain owned by the Ichihashi clan in the Edo period and their residence (established in the Ansei era) have since been purchased and reconstructed elsewhere.
○ Oshukubai
A famous kind of plum tree known as the Oshukubai grows in this temple’s garden. According to the historical text, “The Great Mirror,” in the Tenryaku era (947-56) during the reign of Emperor Murakami, a plum tree in front of the imperial pavilion had withered. A tree from the estate of poet Ki Tsurayuki’s daughter was selected to replace it by force of imperial command.
However, affixed to the tree’s branch was a slip of paper with a poem written on it:

“The emperor commands it”
will not answer
the clever little
nightingale’s question
of his home

Upon reading the poem, the emperor was gripped with pity and compassion and decided to return the tree to its original location. This plum tree was then known as the Oshukubai, meaning “Nightingale’s Lodging Plum.”
Rinko-in was built in the remains of Ki Tsurayuki’s estate, and the Oshukubai prospered and decayed along with it in its garden. The temple had been relocated several times and then abolished over the course of a thousand years, and the Oshukubai had also been moved countless times. The chief priests of Shokoku-ji take pride in the effort put into assuring that this plum tree continues to bloom and that its impressive history is understood.

The nightingale changes
to his plum tree lodging
in the Spring.
How his heart must be
in the flowers!
(Shimazu Iehisa)

Not growing
in my home,
only the plum tree suits.
Perhaps if I think on the branches
of those renowned flowers
(Kishitani Goro)

Many such poems about the Oshukubai exist.

Daitsu-in was built in the original town of Fushimi, on the grounds of Daikomyo-ji (presently the Shokoku-ji pagoda), as a temple for the originator of the Fushimi family, Prince Fushimi-no-Miya Yoshihito. In Oei 23 (1416), after Prince Yoshihito’s death, the hall was built on the Daikomyo-ji grounds and named Daitsu-in after his posthumous title of Daitsu. The founder of this hall was Muso Soseki.
Daikomyo-ji was renovated in the early 1600s and moved inside of Shokoku-ji. Daitsu-in also became part of Shokoku-ji at the same time.
In An’ei 2 (1773), Master Seisetsu Shucho (also known as Master Daiyo) took charge of renovations and opened the meditation hall. In Bunka 1 (1804), he moved the hall to its present location and completed the construction of the current seated meditation hall.
In Kaei 4 (1851), Master Daisetsu Shoen built the current main building and head priest’s quarters. giving Daitsu-in and the meditation hall large roles in the temple. In the first year of the Meiji era (1868), the hall was combined with Daichi-in, where it now remains.
This hall has also served as a specialized training facility for ascetic practices. The seated meditation hall is a large, square room, where ascetic monks gather day and night for mendicancy and meditation.

Zuishun-in: The Floating Elegance of the Suikinkitsu and “Temple of the Wild Geese”

On the northern side of the old imperial palace in Kyoto, within Shokoku-ji, is a hall known as Zuishun-in, which originated as the Uncho-in, created by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu as a hall for Sesson Yubai’s successor, Taisei So’i (who would become the fourth chief priest of Shokoku-ji), to meditate in when he came to the temple. Uncho-in later burned down during a war and was combined with Zuishun-ken. Zuishun-ken was built by authority of the monk Kisen Shusho, compiler of Inryo-ken’s records, during the Bunmei era (1484). Three years later, it burned down at the outset of the Tenmei era. It was rebuilt between the Koka era and the Kaei era (1845-1849). After this, although all the buildings were abandoned, they were successfully revived in June 1898 and now exist as the modern Zuishun-in. Incidentally, many artists and writers — such as Kisen Shusho, Suzuki Shonen, and Mizukami Tsutomu — have been inspired by and have connections to Zuishun-in.

Principal Image
Amida Triad (Wooden cloud-top raigo, from the Fujiwara era)
The principal image of Zuishun-in was donated on the 13th day of the 4th month of Eikyo 11 (1439) by the sixth Ashikaga shogun, Yoshinori. As detailed in the Inryo-ken records, the principal image is a triadic statue, the center of which is Amida Nyorai (Skt. Amitabha Tathagata), forming the raigo mudra and seated in the lotus position. Also riding clouds in raigo position are Kannon Bosatsu (Skt. Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva) offering a lotus and Seishi Bosatsu (Skt. Mahasthamprapta Bodhisattva) with his hands pressed together in prayer.
The central figure of this wooden triad has crystals inlaid for his urna and hair jewel, and both of the flanking images have metal diadems and necklaces separately affixed. The details of the image’s construction are unknown.
The central statue’s mild countenance that resembles the master sculptor Jocho, the fine coils of its hair, and the fluid lines on the garments all mark it as being from the middle of the Fujiwara period.
The flanking images were likely made in a later period. It could also be that a disaster, such as a fire, destroyed all but the central image, and so the flanking images had to be replaced.
The aureolas and pedestals are elegantly and elaborately crafted, likely made around the beginning of the Edo period. It is quite possible that whenever a serious disaster occurred, only the body of the statue was saved, and what remain today are therefore the more recent and sophisticated ornamentations of the early Edo.

Measurements
Amida Nyorai (Skt. Amitabha Tathagata)	Height	35.2 cm	Height w/o Hair	32.8 cm
Kannon Bosatsu	Height	20.1 cm
Seishi Bosatsu	Height	20.6 cm
68 cm from bottom of pedestal to tip of aureola

Appraisal by Kuno Ken (Cultural Heritage Committee Member)

Painted Fusuma

Peafowl	Imao Keinen
Old pine	Suzuki Shonen
Watchful dragon	Umemura Keizan
Wild geese	Ueda Manshu

Hanging scroll

Tao Yuanming	Spring and Autumn landscape		Set of three	Kano Tan’yu
Zhong Kui	Peony	Tiger in bamboo	Set of three	Kano Yasunobu	Changing of the four seasons
Fukurokuju	Plum blossom in snow	Plum blossom and moon	Set of three	Imyo Shokei
Red-clothed Daruma				Kano Tsunenobu

Minakami Tsutomu and the Temple of Wild Geese
When Naoki Prize-winning author Minakami Tsutomu was nine years old, he became a monk at Zuishun-in and practiced Zen until he was 13 before suddenly leaving the temple. Afterward, he traveled across the country and devoted himself to writing. In 1961, he published his best-selling novel, Temple of the Wild Geese, based on his recollections of painted fusuma panels at Zuishun-in, giving the hall the nickname “Temple of the Wild Geese.” Even now there remains a space in the upper portion of the main building, known as the Wild Geese Alcove, that contains eight fusuma painted with wild geese.

The Garden
South Side: Uncho (Cloud Top) Garden
This rock garden exemplifies Muromachi-period style with an elegant simplicity and a koan theme representative of the Zen worldview.
North Side: Unsen (Cloud Spring) Garden
Muraoka Tadashi (horticultural authority for the Cultural Achievement Award and special member of the Cultural Preservation Board) created this pond garden in the style of Shokoku-ji’s founder, Master Muso Soseki.

Tea Room The Kyusho-an
The Kyusho-an is a sukiya-style tea room built by master craftsman Morotomi Atsushi and modeled after Fushin-an of the tea house Omotesenke. The nameplate was written by Sen Sosa (also known as Jimyosai).

The Study Unsen-ken
The main material for the Unsen-ken was a thousand-year-old Taiwanese cypress two meters in diameter. The ceiling is elegantly detailed, resembling a game of Go. Additionally, looking out from the study’s bell-shaped window, one finds a picturesque scene of a yunoki-style stone lantern amid a grove of cypress. Furthermore, the room contains fusuma panels painted with images of old pines, an excellent work by Suzuki Shonen during his stay at Zuishun-in.

The Suikinkitsu
Zuishun-in’s garden holds a suikinkitsu, a set of bamboo pipes that create music when water flows through them, made 370 years ago in the style of the one found in the garden of artist Kobori Enshu’s Fushimi estate, whose ethereal tones have brought the hearts of many listeners to a world of mysterious beauty.

The Big Tea Bowl
This tea bowl was made by potter Kato Kazuhiro (recipient of the Tomimoto Kenkichi Prize, the Kyoto Excellence in Fine Arts Prize, and more); inspired by the sounds of the haunting earthen tones of suikinkitsu outside the Kyusho-an tea house, it was named “Suikin.” Suikin is 49 centimeters in diameter and weighs 7 kilograms. It is Japan’s finest Irabo-glazed teacup, and is still held in the spot for primary tea bowls in Zuishun-in.

Lecture Hall

The lecture hall, with contributions made in Keicho 10 (1605) by Toyotomi Hideyori, has been rebuilt five times, and is the oldest Buddhist lecture hall in Japan. 28.72 meters in the front and 22.80 meters on the side, it is a truly grand building.

Commentary

The lecture hall, also known as Muido, or the No-Fear Hall, is intended as a place to fearlessly expound the dharma and to give lectures advocating the revival of all sentient beings to live free from the suffering incurred by worldly desire. After a period when this temple lacked a proper shrine, the principal image was enshrined here, giving this building a double-function as the main hall.
When it was originally built in 1391, the building was known as the Horaido, or the “Dharma Thunder Hall.” Afterward, it burned down four times, and then once more in Tenbun 20 (1551) during a battle. Afterward, it was rebuilt in Keicho 10 (1605) under the authority of Tokugawa Ieyasu, with the use of 15,000 stones donated by Toyotomi Hideyori. Thus, the building is currently in its fifth iteration.
Being the oldest Buddhist lecture hall in the country, it was designated a Special Protection Building in 1910, an Old National Treasure in 1929, and an Important Cultural Property in 1950 by the Cultural Preservation Act.
The irregular stone foundation serves to amplify the hall’s composed, elegant, and dignified image. It stands 22 meters high.
It has seven beams, six joists, one floor, and a single-layered hip-and-gabled roof, creating a striking image of Zen architecture. The entrance hall also has an additional four beams, one joist, and a single-layered gabled roof.

Zen Architectural Features

In the early Kamakura period, Song Chinese architectural styles were imported to Japan alongside Zen Buddhism. Buildings were also made taller starting from this period.

Roofs
Zen roofs typically have eaves that curve at both ends.
Crosspieces
The crosspiece is a fundamental structure that connects and reinforces beams.
Rafters
The rafters are arranged radially under the eaves in a pattern resembling a folding fan.
Ceiling
The boards of the ceiling are arranged into a plain, flat surface resembling a mirror. This was particularly favored in Zen architecture after the Kamakura period.
Beams
The thin, cylindrical beams are supported by round granite bases. Similarly to Greek entasis, this gives the beams a greater sense of stability.
Kumimono (support brackets)
“Tsumegumi” are support brackets that press the support blocks together tightly. Support brackets are also arranged in the space between the pillars.

Tengai (reed cap) and Ban (flag)

The tengai was originally developed as a cap used for preaching the Buddha’s Law outdoors ( as an umbrella to protect from the sun or rain). Also, the hatahoko and ban are flags raised as symbols. The hatahoko are also called “hanging banners,” while the ban are also called “flags.” Banners, flags, and hoods are all solemnly used before the Buddha, and are called “bangai” (“banner and cap”). The Buddha’s religious law is often compared to a banner, and preaching the law is thus sometimes called “raising the banner of the law.”

Shumidan (the altar enshrining Shinran’s portrait)

When entering the lecture hall, at the front is a tall altar with stairs on three sides. This is the Shumidan. In the center of the Shumidan is the main object of worship, Shaka Nyorai (Shakyamuni Buddha). Enshrined beneath his left arm is an image of Anan Sonja (St. Ānanda) and beneath his right arm is Kashō Sonja (St. Mahākāśyapa)
On the ceiling is the Banryūzu (coiled dragon image), which is famous under the name “nakiryū” (“roaring dragon”).
Additionally, images of masters Daruma (Bodhidharma), Rinzai, Hakujō, and temple founder Teacher of the Nation Musō are enshrined on the western altar. On the eastern altar are Daigen Shuri Bodhisattva and Yoshimitsu Ashikaga.

Main object of worship Shaka Nyorai (Shakyamuni Buddha)

Height: 110 cm
The main image of the Buddha is usually enshrined in a Buddha hall, but after this temple’s Buddha hall was burned down during the Ōnin War (1467-1477)​ it was not rebuilt. Accordingly, the lecture hall has also functioned as a Buddha hall since Year 10 of the Keichō era (1605).
This image, as well as the images of Anan and Kashō beneath its arms, were sculpted in the Kamakura period (1185–1333). They are leading images of the period, said to have been crafted by the famed sculptor Unkei. Unkei, following in the path of his father Kōkei, was a Buddhist sculptor who perfected a vigorous realist style. Some of his main works are said to be the Dainichi Nyorai​ of Enjōji Temple, various Buddhas of Kōfukuji Temple’s Hokuendō, and the image of Niō at the Nandaimon Gate of Tōdaiji Temple, but this image is one of his most excellent works. Sitting on a massive bed of lotuses with legs crossed in full lotus position, this image of the form of meditative concentration is truly beautiful, giving the viewer a sense of great power.

Anan Sonja (St. Ānanda)

Wooden image of Anan Sonja (Anan Sonja Mokuzō)
Height: 126 cm
Anan was born from the Shakya clan of the ancient city of Kapilavastu and was a cousin of Sakyamuni. He was born with handsome features – a face like the pure full moon, eyes like blue lotuses, and a body like the pure light of a polished mirror. Of the ten principal disciples of the Buddha, he is said to have listened the most to the Buddha’s teachings. In India, learning is not usually done from books, but by oral transmission from master to disciple. For this reason, reading or learning are called “listening.” For this reason, if a person has “listened a lot,” it means that they have extensive and deep knowledge. Anan was certainly the most intellectual of the disciples.
Modern sutras are said to have been written from Anan’s memory.

Kashō Sonja (St. Mahākāśyapa)

Wooden image of Mahākāśyapa Sonja
Height: 126 cm
“Mahākā” means “great.” Kashō Sonja is famous as one of the ten principal disciples of the Buddha, as well as for his practice of Zudagyō (abandoning desires and disciplining the body). His hands, firmly pressed together, show his indomitable heart of prayer and his firm will can be seen around his mouth. Furthermore, his wide open eyes splendidly express his leadership as the head of a religious organization.

Banryūzu (coiled dragon image)

By Mitsunobu Kanō (Diameter: approximately 9m)
Zen lecture halls often have dragons painted on their ceilings. Dragons are mythical beasts said to protect the Buddha’s Law. Their leaders are called “Dragon Kings” or “Dragon Gods,” and are counted as one of the Eight Legions of Buddhist deities. In the tenth year of the Keichō era (1605), when reconstruction of Shōkokuji Temple’s lecture hall was completed, this image painted by Mitsunobu Kanō was distinctly drawn as a full portrait within an Ensō​ (a circular symbol of enlightenment or the universe). Its colors remain quite beautiful to this day. Clouds were painted outside the Ensō​, but due to peeling very little now remains. According to Einō Kanō (1631-97), who compiled the Honchōgashi (the most essential book in the study of Japanese art history), this painting was done by Mitsunobu Kanō (1565-1608) Though unsigned, it is undoubtedly the work of Mitsunobu.

Daruma (Bodhidharma)

Wooden carving of Great Teacher Daruma (Bodhidharma)
The First Patriarch of Zen. Born to an Indian royal family, Shakyamuni Buddha is the 28th named Buddha. He crossed over into China in the first year of the second era of Emperor Wu of Liang (520). At Nanking, he had dialogues with Emperor Wu of Liang, then meditated facing the wall of a cave on the grounds of the Shaolin Monastery in Henan Province. Following this, he passed on the Buddhist Law to Huike, the Second Patriarch.

Zen masters Rinzai and Hyakujō

(Left) Zen Master Gigen Rinzai
The 11th founder, counting from Great Teacher Daruma (Bodhidharma).　The founder of the Rinzai School, his words and deeds are recorded in the “Rinzairoku” (“The Record of Rinzai”).
(Right) Zen Master Ekai Hyakujō
The 9th founder, counting from Great Teacher Daruma (Bodhidharma). He established the rules of Zen in the “Hyakujō Shingi.” He is famous for his words, “If you do not work for a day, you do not eat for a day.”

Temple founder, Musō Kokushi

Wooden image of Soseki Musō

Daigen Shuri Bodhisattva

Wooden image of Daigen Shuri Bodhisattva (Daigen Shuri Bosatsu) Muromachi period
A Chinese guardian deity of Ocean Voyages, who protects the safety of those on boats. After being worshiped as the guardian deity of the various temples and monasteries at the Ayuwang Temple complex on Mt. Yuwangshan, he has been enshrined as guardian deity of temples and monasteries in Zen temples.

Yoshimitsu Ashikaga

Dressed in the full garments of Japanese court nobility, this is said to be an image of Yoshimitsu on the occasion of his inauguration as the emperor’s chief advisor at 34 years old.

About the disassembly and grand reconstruction

Due to severe damage to the lecture hall, in recent years a disassembly and grand reconstruction of the lecture hall took place. This was performed as a memorial of the 600th anniversary of Teacher of the Nation Fumyō’s death. Construction began on January 1st of Heisei 2 (1990). On February 2nd, Heisei 7 (1995) the ridgepole raising ceremony was performed, with completion of construction on March 31st, Heisei 9 (1997). In the reconstruction, half of the roof tiles were reshingled, the Shumidan carvings and ceiling mural were resin treated to prevent peeling, the Shumidan and memorial tablet altar lacquer was repaired, the floor coverings were replaced, and the wall plaster was repainted, among other things.

Abbot’s chambers

A distinctive feature of Zen temple complexes is that the main gate, temple, lecture hall, and abbot’s chambers are constructed along a single axis from south to north. Shōkokuji Temple is no exception, with the abbot’s chambers built on the north side of the lecture hall. The abbot’s chambers of Shōkokuji Temple have been burned down several times since their original construction. The current building was rebuilt following the Great Tenmei Fire in the 4th year of the Bunka Era (1807), together with the main gate hall and temple kitchen. Its structure combines a hip-and-gable roof, tiled roof, and gable. With a crossbeam length of 25m and a beam length of 16m, it is a large scale structure for an abbot’s chambers. As such, in Heisei 19 (2007), it was designated a Tangible Cultural Property by Kyoto Prefecture.

Etymology

The etymology of the Japanese word “hōjō” (abbot’s chambers) comes from the Vimalakirti Sutra, a 1st-2nd century Mahayana scripture. In it it is said that each side (hō) of the lay practitioner Vimalakīrti’s living space was only one jō long (about 1.8 meters). As such, “hōjō” has come to indicate the living quarters of the abbot. By extension, the abbot himself is also sometimes called “hōjō.” The framed calligraphy hanging over its gate is by the famed Chinese calligrapher Zhang Fuzhi, featuring a Japanese zelkova tree carved out of one piece.

Garden behind the abbot’s chambers

While the front yard is a simple structure covered in white sand, its effect is not simply to properly express the form of the lecture hall. The white sand utilizes reflected sunlight to brighten the inner area.
There are six spaces, with three rooms on the north and three to the south. Though “six spaces” may sound small, these are not small rooms. Including the front abbot’s chambers and rear abbot’s chambers, the size is about 306m.

Inside the abbot’s chambers

Chūgoku Fudarakusenzu (“Illustration of China’s Mt. Putuo”) By Zaichū Hara
All of the cedar door paintings around the abbot’s chambers are by Zaichū Hara.
He painted Mt. Putuo, which is considered the sacred grounds of Kannon Bodhisattva in China.

Bamboo room

Bamboo illustration By Gyokurin
Painted by the Pure Land monk Gyokurin, a friend of Oshō Imyō (the 115th abbot) while he was staying at the temple.

Plum room

Old plum tree illustration by the 115th abbot, Shūkei Imyō
This painting was not done by a professional painter, but by Shōkokuji Temple’s 115 abbot, Shūkei Imyō Oshō Imyō was born in Wakasa and was head abbot of Kogenin Temple in Yamauchi before becoming head abbot of this temple. He was skilled in painting from a young age. He learned painting under Itō Jakuchū​ from after becoming head abbot of Kogenin Temple. The famous works of Jakuchū’s that he studied closely are truly wonderful; works such as “Shakasanzonzō” (a painting of Buddha with two Bodhisattva) and “Dōshoku Saie” (“Colorful Realm of Living Beings”). His strokes in painting plums were in particular regarded the greatest in the land. He painted the abbot’s chambers’ twelve large sliding doors with a series of large old plum trees.

The imperial house gift room

Cherry trees of Mt. Yoshino By the Tosa School
A sliding door painting by a nobleman, received from the emperor’s pavilion in the Heian palace. It splendidly portrays the roundness of the mountains and the gentleness of the cherry trees and pines. The painter is said to be Tosa Mitsuoki​, who revived the Tosa School at the beginning of the Edo era, but it is not known for certain.

Koto, go, calligraphy, and painting room

Koto, go, calligraphy, and painting illustration By Zaichū Hara
A painting on the theme of the etiquette​ of the Chinese literary elites in the four pursuits of playing the koto, playing go, writing calligraphy, and painting.

The abbot’s messenger room

Illustration of the Eight Immortals By Zaichū Hara

Sliding door painter

Zaichū Hara
A work by the founder of the Hara School, signed under the pen name “Gayū.” Born in Kyoto in the 3rd year of the Kan’en era (1750). It is said that his teacher was Yūtei Ishida (1721-1786), who was active in the mid-Edo Kyoto art scene with the Kanō School​. Above all skilled at paintings of animals and flowers in nature, none of the talent shown in his skilled paintings excels the one held in this temple. His colors were in particular very subtle. Died in the eighth year of the Tenpō era (1837). 88 years old at his death. Buried in the Hara family grave at the Tenshōji Temple of the Pure Land school. His posthumous Buddhist name is “Gayū Murō Dakeyo Zaichū Tōgen Koshi.”

The monk Gyokurin
A monk of Ōmi, his birth name was “Seisui” and also used the name “Bokusekidō.” The disciples of monk Gokurin lived at the Mt. Rakuto temple. He learned painting from his teacher and was skilled at black ink paintings of bamboo. He passed away in the 11th year of the Bunka era.

The abbot’s chambers gate

The entry gate to the front of the abbot’s chambers is a shikyakumon (a four-pillared, gabled gate about two metres across with a single door). The curved roof employs a karahafu (a type of cusped gable). This shrine was designated a Tangible Cultural Property by the Kyoto prefectural government in 2007.

Shōkokuji Temple (official name: Mannenzan Shōkoku Shōten Zenji) was founded in the 3rd year of Meitoku (1392) by Soseki Musō. Established by the third shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, Yoshimitsu Ashikaga, it is the head temple of the Shōkokuji branch of the Rinzai school. Second in Kyoto’s Five Mountain System, it has contributed Zen monks such as Chūshin Zekkai and Keisan Ōsen that are representative of the Five Mountains Literature, as well as many artist monks such as Josetsu, Shūbun, and Sesshū who set the standard of Japanese ink painting. It remains at the heart of Kyoto, both geographically and culturally. Through this distinguished 600 years of history it has transmitted many cultural properties, particularly Zen writings, paintings, and tea ceremony utensils from the Middle Ages.

In the April of Shōwa 59 (1984), as a campaign of activities for the 600th anniversary of the establishment of Shōkokuji, works of art from Shōkokuji Temple, Rokuonji Temple (Kinkaku), Jishōji Temple (Ginkaku), and other sub temples and temples were entrusted to this newly established museum for preservation, display, repair, research, and the spread of Zen culture. It currently has an outstanding collection of cultural assets, including five National Treasures and 145 Important Cultural Properties and carries out various exhibitions.

The first exhibition room has a restoration of “Sekkatei,” a Zen tea house said to have been built on the grounds of Rokuonji Temple by Sōwa Kanamori. The second exhibition room has an installation of part of the masterpiece of ink painting and Important Cultural Property, the “Rokuonji ōｊoin Shōhekiga,” a series of wall paintings by the rare genius of the Middle Ages Kyoto art world, Jakuchū Itō. You will be able to view works of art closely in the peaceful space of an ancient temple ground. We look forward to you viewing them.

Click here for details

Founder’s hall garden

As the name Founder’s hall suggests, it enshrines a wooden image of temple founder Teacher of the Nation Musō. It is to the east of the lecture hall and the most precious location on the grounds. In the first year of the Ōnin era (1467), it was burned by soldiers during the Ōnin War. In the sixth year of the Kanbun era (1666), Emperor Gomizunō reconstructed it for Imperial prince of Katsura No Miya and third generation Imperial prince Yasuhito, but in the eighth year of the Tenmei era (1788), it was once again burned down in the Great Tenmei Fire. In the last years of the Edo period, Monin Kyōrai, wife of Emperor Momozono, donated the grounds of the Kurogoden (the Black Palace) and the building was relocated there in the fourth year of the Bunka era (1807). It was expanded for use as a temple. The current form of the Founder’s hall is a normal level surface, with a worship hall in the front and a central hall for the mortuary tablets of lay believers.
An image of Teacher of the Nation Musō, founder of Shōkokuji Temple, is enshrined on the front side. On the western altar, images of Teacher of the Nation Bukkō, Teacher of the Nation Fukkoku, Teacher of the Nation Fumyō, and Yoshimitsu Ashikaga are enshrined. On the eastern altar, mortuary tablets and images of nobles with connections to Shōkokuji are enshrined.
The Founder’s hall’s south yard has a broad traditional dry garden covered in sand in the front. In the back is a gently sloping moss covered artificial hill. A small river about five shaku wide (about 1.5m) used to flow between them, but in the 10th year of the Shōwa era (1935), the water source dried up. This water was irrigation water that flowed south from Kamigamo, a stream flowing from the Kamo River to Kamigoryo-Jinja Shrine, to the Shōkokuji Temple grounds, to the Founder’s hall, to Kudokuin Temple, to the Imperial Palace gardens. For this reason, it was known in the temple as “Ryūensui” (“Imperial pool water”) and the water channel proceeding from the Founder’s hall was called “Hekigyokukō” (“Appearance of jasper”).
Shōkokuji Temple’s Founder’s hall garden is, strictly speaking, both a “mountain water garden” due to the artificial hill and flowing water and a “dry landscape garden” due to the garden stones arranged on white sand that create a link to the divine spirits of quarried stones. It is an interesting form that combines two styles in one garden and links two types of gardens into one form.

Musō Kokushi (Teacher of the Nation Musō)

Image height 114cm
When the Founder’s hall was first built, it was called “Shijuin Temple.” There was certainly an image of Musō Kokushi enshrined in it, but by the time of its establishment it had already been lost in a fire. It is not known when or in what era the current image was sculpted so it is impossible to say for certain, but it cannot be from any later than the middle Muromachi period. Accordingly, the image enshrined up until the reconstruction in the first year of the Bunshō era (1466) must be this one.
The image has a small and slim figure but it expresses the personality of the Musō Kokushi, the most intelligent and knowledgeable person of the era, quite well. It is said that his shoulders were so slim they gave birth to the phrase “Musō shoulders.” The image represents this very well with a monk’s stole that seems about to slim from his shoulders.

Wooden image of Sogen Mugaku (Teacher of the Nation Bukkō)

Image height 93cm
A wooden image of the Musō Kokushi’s Dharma ancestor, Teacher of the Nation Bukkō (Sogen Mugaku). Sogen Mugaku was born in the second year of the Karoku era (1226), in the Chinese city of Mingzhou in Qingyuan. At the time of his residence in the north hall of Jinzu Temple in Hang Prefecture and entry into the priesthood, he was 13 years old. In the second year of the Kōan era (1279), he came to Japan in response to a request from Tokimune Hōjō. In August, he entered Kamakura’s Kenchōji Temple. In December of the fifth year of the Kōan era, he built and founded Engaku-ji​ Temple in the Jishu school of Buddhism. On September third of the ninth year of the same era, he passed away at age 61. This image was made on the occasion of Emperor Gomizunō’s reconstruction in the sixth year of the Kanbun era (1666), or perhaps a little later as a donation from the temple’s 100th abbot Myōjo Joshū. In any event, it was made by the Buddhist sculptor Ryōmu Hokkyō and enshrined on September third of the second year of the Enpō era (1680). On July seventh of the second year of the Tenmei era (1782), it was repaired by Buddhist sculptor Ryūkei Shimizu and escaped the Great Fire in the eighth year of the Tenmei era (1788) without harm.

Wooden image of Kennichi Kōhō (Teacher of the Nation Fukkoku)

Enshrined on the left of Bukkō Kokushi is Fukkoku Kokushi, Kennichi Kōhō. Kennichi Kōhō is temple founder Musō Kokushi’s ancestor in the Dharma lineage.
He was born at the Imperial villa in Jōsai in the second year of the Ninji era. As son of Emperor Gosaga, he was an Imperial prince.
Towards the end of the second year of the Kōan era (1279), through the mediation of Serashūzōji Temple’s Ingō Ichō, he was introduced to Sogen Mugaku as soon as he arrived in Japan at Chōrakuji Temple.
In the third year of the Kagen era, the vestments received from Teacher of the Nation Bukkō were given to Soseki at Jōchiji Temple in Kamakura and he received his Dharma transmission.
Disciples in this Dharma lineage include, beginning with Soseki Musō, Myōjun Ōhira, Hongen Gennō, and Enkō Tengan. The Bukkō line was particularly prominent in founding the basis for the expansion of Zen temples in the Kantō region, along with the Daikaku line of Lanxi Daolong.
This wooden image was also donated by the 101st abbot of this temple, Kenrei Taikyo, on November 20th in the eighth year of the Enpō era (1680). As with the statue of Bukkō, it was carved by the Buddhist sculptor Ryōmu and is enshrined in the Enmyō Tower.

Wooden image of Myōha Shunoku (Teacher of the Nation Fumyō)