⛩️ Shofuku-ji Temple (Higashimurayama City, Tokyo)

The Kamakura Shogunate period lasted from 1185 to 1333, and Shōfuku-ji is a Rinzai Zen temple built by the regent Hōjō Tokimune in 1278. According to legend, Hōjō Tokimune fell seriously ill while falcon hunting in Higashimurayama. On the night he was gravely ill, he dreamt of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, who gave him a pill saying, "Take this pill, and you will recover." In his dream, Tokimune took the pill, and when he woke up the next morning, he was healed. Thus, he built Shōfuku-ji to honor the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva who saved him. Within the temple grounds, there is the Sen-tai Jizō-dō, which houses around a thousand Jizō statues. This is the only wooden national treasure building in Tokyo, and during renovations in 1934, an inscription was discovered that confirmed the structure was built in 1407 during the Muromachi period. The exterior is open for free visits, while the interior is open to the public on the second Sunday of June, August 8, and November 3, three times a year. On November 3, the interior is only open for photography from 3 PM to 4 PM for one hour, so please take special note of this (photography is allowed at any time during the June and August open days). Additionally, the largest stone tablet in Tokyo, the Shōwa Stone Tablet, was moved to Shōfuku-ji in 1927.

It is said that the Rinzai sect temple was built by Hōjō Tokimune in 1278. The Senjū Jizō Hall within the grounds is the only wooden national treasure building in Tokyo. There is also the "Jōwa Stone Tablet," known for being the largest stone tablet in Tokyo.