Sounji Temple

Founded in 1521 by Hojo Ujitsuna to honor his father, the warlord Hojo Soun who consolidated power around Hakone, Sounji grew prosperous enough that its grounds once extended to present-day Hakone-Yumoto Station. At that height, the youngest son of Hojo Soun is said to have designed the Zen rock garden still on the premises. The temple's fortunes reversed in 1590 when Toyotomi Hideyoshi destroyed Odawara Castle and burned Sounji to the ground. Surviving family lines rebuilt the temple in the seventeenth century. A monument to five generations of Hojo lords has stood on the grounds since 1672. Behind the main hall, majestic castanopsis trees shade a cemetery where Hakone's former ruling family rests.