Virtual Yokohama City 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #29 Gyokusen-ji Temple

     Gyokusen-ji Temple was founded by Priest Kuken (?-1582) in May, 1577, when the Later Hojo Clan was winning hegemony in the Kanto Region.  The clan was pressing an attack on the Satomi Clan in the Chiba Peninsula, who were forced to make peace in July, 1577.

     The temple buildings were burned down on September 1, 1923, in the Great Kanto Earthquake.  They were rebuilt, only to be burned down on May 29, 1945, in the Bombing of Yokohama during World War II.

     There used to be a Kannon-do Hall outside the precincts, but it was closed in 1868 and the statue of Ekadasamukha, who has 11 faces, was moved to the main hall of Gyokusen-ji Temple.  The statue was said to have been carve by Gyoki (668-749), but was reduced to ashes in the Great Kanto Earthquake.

Address: 1 Chome-6-1 Nakamuracho, Minami Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 232-0033Phone: 045-251-7298