History of Keifuku-ji temple

The founder of Keifuku-ji Temple (the first chief priest who opened the temple) was the fifth generation of Zen Master Keizan, the founder of Soji-ji (Yokohama City), which along with Eihei-ji Temple is the head temple of the Soto sect. He is a Zen master called Tsugenjakurei, the head zen priest in Japan.

In 1369 Keifuku-ji Temple was founded in Inagawa-cho, Kawabe-gun, Hyogo Prefecture by him.

After that, with the revolution of the society, as the rise and fall of the temple then the result of the Battle of Sekigahara, Terumasa Ikeda entered Himeji from Toyohashi, and Takashige Arao, the uncle of Terumasa, who was a senior vassal had an affinity with the 11th generation monk Taikei. In 1602 Keifuku-ji Temple was established in Himeji by him.

The following year, as the country of Bizen (Current Okayama area) was included for supervise, Terumasa’s second son Tadatsugu entered the country as the lord of Okayama Castle, and Arao Takashige also came as Tadatsugu’s guardian.

Taking this opportunity, once again he had an affinity with the 12th Monk Jikigan and rebuilt from the ruined temple as Keifuku-ji temple as the present place of Okayama and Monk Jikigan was in charge.

After that, in 1631 (The age of Monk Youshitsu was in charge) Ikeda Mitsunaka, who should have been the third lord of Okayama Castle, alternated for a feudal land with Ikeda Mitsumasa (Mitsunaka’s cousin), who was the lord of Tottori Castle at the time, so Mr. Arao returned to Tottori as a guardian of Mitsunaka.
Along with the above history, Keifuku-ji Temple in Tottori was created by this fourth location.

Here, the four rare keifuku, the Tsugen Dojo, which share the same founder, were founded in Inagawa-cho, Himeji-shi, Okayama-shi, and Tottori-shi.
They took 390 years to established since 650 also maintained even now. It is the blessing from bottom of our hearts that they have survived and flourished to such an extent.

Now, Okayama Keifuku-ji Temple has inherited the 32nd generation since its founding.