Kaifukuji 海福寺: Another Famous Obaku Temple during the Edo Period

Obakushu Kaifukuji

It is a pure coincidence that we discovered the famous Obaku temple Kaifukuji 海福寺 was next to Rakanji. It was founded in 1628 and was first led by the then Soto monk Dokuhon 獨本性源, who was later converted to Yinyuan when he arrived in Nagasaki. Dokuhon accompanied Yinyuan to Edo for his audience with the shogun Tsunayoshi. He thus changed his temple Kaifukuji to the new Obaku sect and asked Yinyuan to be the symbolic founder. During the Edo period, it was one of the two "contact temples" (furegashira 觸頭) for the Obaku sect and a "famous attraction" as well. (The other was Zuishoji 瑞聖寺.) We found Yinyuan's memorial pagoda and other relics for later Obaku abbots. We talked to the young abbot as well and learnt a lot about its history.  The original place was in Fukagawa 深川 and the temple was moved here in 1910 (Meiji 43).

Memorial Pagados of early abbots, shot by Jiang Wu

After reading the temple history I was given, I realized that the temple structure also kept relics from another Obaku temple called Taiunji 泰雲寺 which was founded by the famous Obaku nun Ryonen了然 (1646-1711). She was a lady in waiting for the retired Emperor Gomizunoo's wife Tofukumonin 東福門院 but was converted to Obaku. She was famous because she burned her beautiful face to show her determination of conversion. The temple was original located in Shinjuku but was an abandoned temple in the late Bakumatsu period. Therefore the temple plaque wrote by Yinyuan's disciple Mu'an 木庵 and the main gate were moved here. It is funny that because the plaque was so big and the character "ji" 寺 has to be cut to mount the plaque.

Plaque for Taiunji by Mu'an, photo by Jiang Wu

Obaku nun Ryonen has attracted some attention from Western scholars because she represented exemplar Zen women. See Engendering Faith: Women and Buddhism in Premodern Japan by
Barbara Ruch, Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan, 2002.

Yinyuan's Memorial Pagoda, photo by Jiang Wu

Main Gate, originally from Taiunji, photo by Jiang Wu

The temple also preserved a bronze bell cast with inscriptions by Yinyuan.

Bell with inscription by Yinyuan, photo by Jiang Wu