Manpuku-ji Night Special Viewing and Light Art Installation

Before you go

At night in Manpuku-ji, a red dragon rises out of the dark. The night visit is titled "Emerging from the Darkness: The Red Dragon Embracing a National Treasure," and a light-art installation shares the grounds with national treasures and important cultural properties after dark.

Manpuku-ji is the head temple of the Obaku school of Zen, founded by the Chinese monk Ingen Ryuki. In 1654, at the age of 63, Ingen came to Japan with twenty disciples, and in 1661 he founded this temple in Uji, giving it the name of the temple he had led in Fuqing, Fujian. The retired Emperor Gomizunoo and the Tokugawa shogunate both revered him, granting some 90,000 tsubo of temple land. In 1876 the Obaku school became an independent sect, and together with the Rinzai and Soto schools it is counted among Japan's three Zen schools.

The temple buildings follow Ming-dynasty Chinese layout, symmetrical along a central axis, with the main halls open at the front and halls of equal size on either side. There are swastika-fret railings, arched Obaku ceilings, round windows and peach-shaped door ornaments, and the plaque reading Manpuku-ji was written by Ingen himself. The temple keeps its original form, and its 23 main buildings and corridors are designated important cultural properties. From the early to the mid-Edo period, most of its abbots were monks who had come from China. Rituals also follow Chinese practice: morning and evening services chant sutras in Tang pronunciation, and bonbai chanting is sung to drums, gongs and other instruments. Obaku teaching stresses "mind-only": everything in the world is the working of the mind, and the Pure Land is found within the mind. Seated meditation is the core practice.

Ingen was the 32nd in the Rinzai line, and in his lifetime the imperial court granted him the titles of National Teacher and Great Teacher. He brought Buddhism to Japan, and with it the ingen bean, watermelon, lotus root, moso bamboo and the wooden fish drum; fucha cuisine and sencha tea came with him as well. Fucha cuisine is Chinese-style vegetarian temple food, unlike the plain vegetarian meals most people in Japan picture: the dishes are beautifully arranged, high in protein and low in calories, and eaten together with gratitude. During the night visits, the temple serves a special night fucha bento and holds night sencha gatherings, both by reservation, and a multilingual audio guide is available.

Booking

Night admission: ¥1,000 for adults, ¥500 for junior and senior high school students, free for younger children; the audio-guide app costs ¥1,000. The night fucha bento and night tea ceremony are strictly reservation-only via the dedicated site linked from the page.