Jōryū-ji Temple

Overview

Joryu-ji is a Nichiren-sect temple in the Kogaya district of Kanagawa Ward, Yokohama. Bearing the mountain name Myoko-san, it is said to have been founded in 1260. Standing near the old Kanagawa-juku post town of the Tokaido road, it is a historic temple closely tied to the story of the port city of Yokohama.

Highlights

• ●A Nichiren-sect temple said to date back to its founding in 1260
• ●The venerable mountain name Myoko-san marking its temple rank
• ●A site of the treaty-port era that once held the British consulate
• ●A quiet setting that preserves traces of the old Kanagawa-juku

History

Traditionally founded in 1260, Joryu-ji belongs to the Ikegami-Hoshi lineage and once counted the head temple Ikegami Honmon-ji as its parent temple. When Yokohama opened as a treaty port in the late Edo period, the British consulate was temporarily housed within its grounds, making the temple a small stage in Japan's era of opening to the world.

Map

35.4739, 139.6308 · Wikidata

Suggested itinerary

1. 1Walk the old Tokaido post-town streets toward Joryu-ji
2. 2Pay respects at the main hall, honoring a lineage from the Kamakura period
3. 3Reflect on the opening-of-Japan history linked to the British consulate
4. 4Extend your stroll to the historic sites around Kanagawa-juku

Did you know?

💡 The fact that a British consulate once stood on these grounds shows that this was not merely a neighborhood temple, but a place that witnessed a chapter of Japan's internationalization.

Nearby spots