Togakuji Temple Matsue

 

Togakuji is a large Soto Zen temple located in the Okudani area of Matsue City, north of the castle.

The entrance passes through a nice raked gravel garden with pine trees.

Throughout the grounds are numerous "cute" statues

As well as many mizuko jizo

This Fudo Myo is in the same hall that houses the 500 Rakan, or arhats, disciples of the Buddha.

They were carved locally between the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century.

The temple was built by the mother of Kojiro Horio, a grandchild of Yoshiharu Horio, the head of the Matsue Domain and builder of Matsue Castle.

Kojiro died young in 1609 and in 1610 the memorial temple was built for him.

Originally located near Gassan Toda Castle, it was moved to its current site in 1613 following the building of Matsue Castle.

The large cemetery contains the tombs and graves of quite a few important local dignitaries.

The area of Okudani is not well visited by tourists but there are several more nice temples and shrines in the vicinity.

The previous post in this series was on the Meimei-an Teahouse Gardens just north of the castle.