Chichibu Fudasho No.33 Kikusui-ji Temple
Kikusui-ji Temple was originally built at another site but was destroyed by fire in 1569. The principal statue, which survived, was temporarily enshrined at Chofuku-ji Temple, located on this site. Over time, the site came to be called Kikusui-ji Temple.
The current earthen-floored hall was rebuilt in 1820.
Chichibu Fudasho No.33 Kikusui-ji Temple
- Japanese / English notation
- 延命山 菊水寺（えんめいさん きくすいじ）/ Enmei-San Kikusui-ji Temple
- Location
- 〒369-1503 Chichibu Fudasho No.33 Kikusui-ji Temple
- School
- Soto Zen School
- Principal Image
- Sho Kannon (Sacred Kannon)
- Tagline
- A Temple for Longevity and Health
- Blessings
- Good Health and Long Life
- Wish Fulfillment
- Freedom from Illness
- Highlights
- Two Hanging Paintings: These hang on both sides of the earthen-floored Main Hall. One is Shison Hanjo Tebikigusa (Guide to Family Prosperity), which warns against a tragic custom in which parents, driven by poverty, took the lives of their own children. The other is Koko Wasan (Poem of Respect for Parents), showing Lady Tang nursing her elderly mother-in-law, from China’s Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars.
- Miracles of Kannon at This Temple
- Bandits of Hachinin Pass (literally “eight people”)
Long ago, eight bandits lived at a mountain pass in this area, troubling the villagers and travelers.
One day, a traveling monk reached the pass, and the bandits quickly stole all his belongings.
However, the monk used his spiritual power to stop them and said, “Stealing is a serious sin. If you change your heart now, you will receive compassion.”
Frightened, the eight bandits purified themselves at the sacred Kikusui spring as the monk instructed, and they enshrined a Kannon statue carved by the monk, dedicating themselves to the path of Buddhism.
- Nearest station
- 2-hours and 30-minutes walk from Seibu Railway Seibuchichibu Station.