Keirinji Temple

Keirinji traces its origins to a medicine buddha temple that converted to Soto Zen in 1401, with its current name dating to 1451. The approach passes through three successive gates, culminating in a 1717 two-story Chinese-style gate that also functions as a bell tower. In 1600, monks from Keirinji joined the outnumbered forces of local lord Hosokawa Fujitaka against a 15,000-strong siege. The grateful Hosokawa family donated a bell and a nirvana painting in thanks, both now counted among the temple's cultural properties. A Kamakura-period stone lantern and a small Shinto shrine to Hachiman occupy a quiet corner of the grounds.