Jufuku-ji

Kikokuzan Kongō Jufuku Zenji
Jufuku-ji, Kamakura - The Sōmon
Basic information
Location	17-7 Ogigayatsu 1-chome, Kamakura, Kanagawa 248-0011
Affiliation	Rinzai
Deity	Shaka Nyorai
Country	Japan
Website	None
Architectural description
Founder	Hōjō Masako, Eisai
Completed	1200

Kikokuzan Kongō Jufuku Zenji (亀谷山金剛寿福禅寺^?), usually known as Jufuku-ji, is a temple of the Kenchō-ji branch of the Rinzai sect and the oldest Zen temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Ranked third among Kamakura's prestigious Five Mountains, it is number 24 among the Thirty-Three Kamakura Kannon (鎌倉三十三観音, Kamakura Sanjūsan Kannon^?) pilgrimage temples and number 18 of the Kamakura Nijūyon Jizō (鎌倉二十四地蔵^?) temples. Its main object of worship is Shaka Nyorai.

The temple was founded by Hōjō Masako (1157–1225), a great historical figure familiar enough to the Japanese to appear on television jidaigeki dramas, in order to enshrine her husband Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147–1199), founder of the Kamakura shogunate, who died falling from his horse in 1199. Having chosen Jufuku-ji's present site because it used to be Yoritomo's father's residence, she invited Buddhist priest Myōan Eisai to be its founding priest. Eisai is important in the history of Zen because it was he who, after being ordained in China, introduced it to Japan. He is also known for introducing green tea to the country. Ostracized by the Tendai school in Kyoto because of the new ideas he had introduced there after coming back from China, Eisai agreed to come to Kamakura, where he was to stay and have great religious influence. Among the famous Zen masters that were active at Jufuku-ji are Enni Bennen (円爾弁円^?) (1202–1280), who was invited to come here in 1257 by Hōjō Tokiyori, and the Chinese Rankei Dōryū (chin. 蘭溪道隆, Lánxī Dàolóng, W.-G. Lan-hsi Tao-long; 1213–1278).