Virtual Miura 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #21 Keitoku-ji Temple

     Keitoku-ji Temple was founded by Priest Bukkan, who had been trained by the most famous monk of the time, Muso Soseki (1275–1351), who was a Rinzai Zen Buddhist monk and teacher, and a calligraphist, poet and garden designer.  Bukkan then trained Kokan Jikei (1544-1633), another famous priest at the time.  Was Bukkan a trough, or a good baton-relay second runner? 

     Keitoku-ji temple went through a couple of fires.  At last, it lost its main deity in a fire.  It then invited the statue of Ekadasamukha, who has 11 faces, from Hoju-an Temple nearby.  The Ekadasamukha statue had arrived at the inlet nearby on a vermillion-lacquered boat.  The villagers had enshrined the statue in a hermitage, and named the hermitage Hoju-an.

     Keitoku-ji Temple has another Avalokitesvara statue, the statue of Hayagriva , who has the head of a horse, which has been brought from another Avalokitesvara hermitage which used to be located at 2 Chome Funakoshicho.

Address: 1 Chome-61 Funakoshicho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-0076

Phone: 046-861-3560