Tofuku-ji

A 1/10th scale model of the temple's main gate, at the National Museum of Japanese History in Chiba prefecture

Not to be confused with Tofukuji castle in Kagoshima.

• Founded: 1236, Kujô family
• Japanese: 東福寺 (toufuku-ji)

Tôfuku-ji is a major Rinzai Zen temple in eastern Kyoto, founded in 1236 by the Kujô family.

The main gate of the temple, dating in its latest reconstruction to 1425, has been designated a National Treasure. The two-story gate is five bays wide, with three doors and ladders on either end leading up into the second story. Though fundamentally a wayô ("Japanese-style") structure, the gate features elements of daibutsuyô ("Great Buddha Style") and Zen architecture.

References

• Amino Yoshihiko, Alan Christy (trans.), Rethinking Japanese History, Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan (2012), 147n5.