Tochoji temple [東長寺]
Hondo of Tochoji
© Fukuoka City
Five-storied pagoda of Tochoji
© Fukuoka City
Tochoji is a Buddhist temple of Shingon Buddhism which is one of major Japanese Buddhism.
Both "o" in the word is pronounced long, so it is read as "Tôchôji".
It is located about 800 meters northwest of Hakata station and about 400 meters northeast of Kushida Shrine.
It is said that this temple was founded by high priest Kuukai in 806.
Kuukai went to China to study Buddhism when he was 20 years old in 804.
Then he became an excellent priest and returned back to Japan in 806.
He landed on Hakata, and established this temple as his first temple in Japan.
But this temple was destroyed by fire in the civil war in the late 16th century.
In the early 17th century, Kuroda Tadayuki (1602-1654), the 2nd lord of Fukuoka Domain, restored this temple.
On the temple grounds, there are Hondo (Main temple), Rokkakudo, Daibutsuden, etc.
Most buildings were rebuilt relatively recently.
Five-storied pagoda (五重塔) is a new and attractive building and was completed in 2011.
Rokkakudo of Tochoji
© Fukuoka City
Fukuoka Daibutsu of Tochoji
© Fukuoka City
Rokkakudo (六角堂) is an original building with a hexagonal shape and was built in 1842.
In Daibutsuden (大仏殿), there is Fukuoka Daibutsu (Great Buddha statue) completed in 1992.
The height is 10.8 meters, and it is the largest wooden Daibutsu in Japan.
There is an dark tunnel under Daibutsu, and worshippers can enter the tunnel.
It is the tunnel in hell, and there is a ring of Buddha on the way in the dark.
If you can catch the ring, it is said that you will go to the heaven.
This attraction is called "Jigoku-Gokuraku meguri" (Tour to Hell and Heaven).
How to get here
About 650 meters walk from JR Hakata station.
Or, the nearest station of subway is Gion (●K10 Kuko Line).
The temple is near the station.
