Oct 9, 2014 - 1 min read

Beauty of Shougenji Temple: Fukui

Enjoy a pretty landscaped Japanese garden!

By Takako Sakamoto

Community writer

Beautiful main gate and the dried up lotus flower in the garden pond

Red and yellow autumn leaves surround the belfry under the sunshine

Field mustards reaching high up to the sky in front of Shougenji Temple, which is located in an idyllic residential area of Fukui

Stone marker of Shougenji Temple under the blue sky

Bronze lantern hanging from the roof of the main gate

Main gate towering over a smaller stone lantern in front

Thin bare tree growing on the rock in front of the belfry

Peeping at the main temple building (Soshi-do) through Japanese garden

Bonsai pine tree with the main gate in the backdrops

Blue, vermilion, green and yellow...a fine autumn day to make you feel that life is beautiful!

Blue sky and green temple roof somehow complement each other

Looking at the main temple building through pine trees and a wisteria trellis

Dead lotus flowers and the main gate...summer is over and autumn is coming!

I found this temple, Shougenji, on my way home. It is the head temple of 'Gugan Shinshu', which was founded in Fukui as a new sect of Jodo Shinshu in the Meiji Period. Since I found it by chance, I didn't expect it to be so beautiful. Especially, the pretty Japanese garden and the colored leaves around the belfry pleased my eyes. In the garden, there is a lotus pond in the corner of which irises are also planted. Just beside the pond, there is a wisteria trellis as well. The grounds of this temple must be beautiful all year-round. When I visited, the early autumn leaves were turning color, which contrasted clearly with green trees under a blue sky. They were just beautiful.

Fukui's Shougenji Temple Series 1. Shougenji Temple, Fukui 2. Beauty of Shougenji Temple: Fukui 3. Fukui's Shougenji Temple in Snow 4. Snow Garden of Shougenji Temple