Shofukuji Temple

Shofukuji holds a unique place in the religious history of Japan: it is generally recognised as the first true Zen temple and Zen training hall, or dojo, ever founded in the country. It was established in 1195 by the monk Eisai, also known as Yosai, on land granted by the shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo, and completed around 1204 after Eisai returned from years of study in Song-dynasty China. Eisai introduced the Rinzai school of Zen, with its emphasis on seated meditation and the contemplation of koan riddles, and Shofukuji became the seedbed from which Zen spread through medieval Japan. The temple stands on the site of an earlier hall built by Chinese residents of the busy trading port of Hakata, a reminder of how deeply Fukuoka's culture was shaped by contact with the continent.

At its medieval height the complex was vast, with as many as 38 sub-temples and seven main halls. Fire during the wars of the sixteenth century swept much of it away, but it was rebuilt, and today the tranquil precinct preserves a classic Zen layout: a stately Chinese-style main gate, a sanmon gate, a Buddha hall and a bell tower, arranged along a quiet axis and shaded by mature trees. The whole precinct was designated a National Historic Site in 1969. Unlike the crowd-drawing Great Buddha at nearby Tochoji, Shofukuji is a working temple whose halls are generally closed to the public, so visitors admire the architecture and gardens from the grounds rather than going inside; this restraint is part of its appeal, and the atmosphere is meditative and often almost deserted.

Eisai's legacy reaches beyond religion. He is also credited with reintroducing tea to Japan, bringing back tea seeds and the practice of drinking powdered green tea from China, and writing an influential treatise on tea as medicine. In a real sense the Japanese tea ceremony traces part of its ancestry to this quiet Hakata temple, a connection worth savouring as you walk the gravel paths. In autumn the maples in the grounds turn deep red, framing the dark timber gates and making late November the loveliest time to visit.

Because it lies only a few minutes on foot from Tochoji, Kushida Shrine and Gion subway station, Shofukuji fits perfectly into a walking circuit of old Hakata's temple district, an area that repays wandering with its tiled walls, narrow lanes and sense of centuries layered on centuries. A visit takes only twenty to thirty minutes, but it offers something the flashier sights nearby cannot: the still, plain, understated spirit of Zen at the exact spot where it first took root in Japan. Come on a weekday morning, keep your voice low, and let the quiet do its work.