Zotoku-in
- Japanese: 増徳院 (Zoutoku-in)
Zôtoku-in is a Kôya-san Shingon Buddhist temple in the Heiraku neighborhood of Yokohama; originally located in the Motomachi neighborhood and directly associated with the Yokohama Foreign Cemetery, it was moved to Heiraku, up on the Bluff, after the 1923 Great Kantô Earthquake.
The chief objects of worship are Kôbô Daishi and Fudô Myôô.
The temple's Yakushi Hall, most recently rebuilt in 1972, remains in Motomachi. It is said to date, originally, to the 9th century, though there is no surviving documentation of this.
The temple's 20th century stone and metal main gate was replaced in 2008 with a new wooden gate in the traditional style.
Robert Williams, the first member of the Perry Expedition to die in Japan, was initially buried at Zôtoku-in following his death in 1854; however, his grave was moved to Gyokusen-ji in Shimoda several months later.
References
- "Zôtoku-in," Yokohama City Central Library Research Guides.
- "Zôtoku-in," Jiin mei jiten 寺院名辞典, 1989.
