Fukuoka 2019: Shofukuji Temple (聖福寺)

I caught a gap in the rain as I got close to Shofukuji Temple and I was thus able to explore the temple and take photos without any weather issues. Shofukuji Temple was founded in 1195 and it is the oldest Zen temple in Japan. Although Buddhism had been introduced to Japan centuries prior to Shofukuji’s construction, this temple was where the Zen variant of the religion gained its first foothold in the country. The inner court of the temple was closed to the public when I visited but the rest of the temple grounds were open and there were only a few other visitors so it almost felt like I had the whole place to myself. Shofukuji’s buildings have been destroyed multiple times over the centuries, and WW2 in particular damaged the temple badly, but much of Shofukuji was successfully reconstructed after the war.