Shofukuji -
Tokyo's Forgotten Treasure

Tokyo's only building that is ranked on the prestigious list of "National Treasures," is the hall of Shofukuji Temple. Therefore it is all the more surprising that this temple is totally forgotten and lies far from the tourist track. I find it standing forlornly in a corner of one of Tokyo's suburbs. But I also discover a true architectural treasure.

For the past hundred years, Japan has known a system that gives a special designation to objects of exceptional artistic and historical value. Since 1950, these objects are ranked as either "Important Cultural Properties" or "National Treasures." While there are more than 11,000 Important Cultural Properties, there are only just over 1,000 National Treasures, making this last category by far the most exclusive of the two. The Ministry of Education decides which objects fall in this class, together with a special committee, and it goes without saying that this is a lengthy process. The list includes buildings, statues, paintings, books, swords, and so on. Inclusion is a sure sign of high artistic quality, rarity and originality.

Forgotten Temple Hall
When you come to Shofukuji Temple, near Higashi-Murayama station on the Seibu Shinjuku line, you soon understand that the reason for not being popular with visitors is at least partly the fault of the temple. All there is to see is, after all, the one, relatively small Jizo Hall, and it comes as a disappointment (even if you knew it beforehand) that it can only been viewed from the outside. The temple does open its doors twice a year, but for most people it is inconvenient to plan a visit on exactly one of those days.

Still, if you are interested in temple architecture, a visit is highly recommended. After passing through the residential neighborhood that surrounds the station, the temple comes as a surprise. It stands at the edge of the town, with a low hill and the Ferris wheel of a playground at its back.

The small Jizo Hall is a sheer delight. It has two roofs, a serious-looking one of copper shingles and a higher, coquettish one of thatch, with deliciously curved-up corners. There are two bell-shaped windows and bell-shaped false doors next to the real door in the middle. The transoms under the eaves have been carved in a wave pattern. The hall is all elegance and lightness, there is nothing of the heaviness of religion. Moreover - to negate my earlier complaint - although the building can not be entered, by walking around it one can fully enjoy its beauty.

Shofukuji seen through its gate

A Pill from Jizo
Probably correctly, the founding legend of the temple dates its existence back to about 1275. Hojo Tokimune, the then ruler of Japan, was on a falcon hunt in the area, when he suddenly fell ill. In a feverish dream that night, a monk appeared who handed him a medicinal pill, which he swallowed. The next morning, Tokimune was miraculously cured. He had his men search for the monk, but all they could find was a small shrine dedicated to Jizo, the Bodhisattva who aids sufferers.

Tokimune understood that it was Jizo himself who had appeared in his dream, and out of gratitude he had a statue carved and a hall erected to house it. The statue holds a pill in its left hand and is known as the Jizo of Long Life. This legend gave birth to a quaint custom in the area. When people fell ill, they would borrow a small copy of the Jizo statue from the temple, believing that Jizo would take their illness upon himself. When they recovered, they would return the borrowed statue plus a new copy to the temple.

In this way, numerous small Jizo statues were accumulated by the temple and placed on shelves along the walls, giving rise to the name "Hall of the Thousand Jizo's."

An Arching Roof
I walk around the hall that is encircled by a low wooden fence, presumably to keep playing children away, close as it is to ordinary houses. I am busy taking pictures. When I return to the front of the hall, I notice that I am not the only photographer anymore. A group of five people has come to enliven the originally deserted temple. They seem to be from the neighborhood: parents and grandparents with a daughter who is dressed up in a gaudy kimono. She may be dressed up for a coming of age ceremony, or a miai, a meeting with a prospective partner.

The father films her on video and the mother clicks away on a small camera, all with the Jizo hall of Shofukuji as backdrop. The elegance of the architectural lines is in perfect harmony with the gracefulness of the kimono, and the deep-brown wood contrasts beautifully with the red and yellow colors of the traditional dress.

The low, but bright winter sun adds a golden luster to the brown hall and it seems as if the sensuous roof strives to make its arch even more suggestive.