Shokanji Temple

Shokanji Temple in central Kikuchi was the most important religious institution for the Kikuchi clan during the 1300s and 1400s, a period that marked the height of the clan’s power and prosperity. The Rinzai Zen temple was founded in 1344 by Kikuchi Takemitsu (1319–1373) immediately after he had been named the fifteenth head of the clan. Takemitsu is remembered as the most successful wartime Kikuchi leader; he was also an influential reformer.

Founding Shokanji was part of Takemitsu’s efforts to establish his authority as leader. He went on to expand the clan’s territory and influence until the alliance led by the Kikuchi controlled all of Kyushu. At home in the castle town of Waifu (now central Kikuchi), Takemitsu’s reforms included creating the Kikuchi Gozan (Five Temples) system by placing five Zen temples in Waifu under his clan’s protection. In return, these temples served the Kikuchi by performing various administrative and religious duties.

Shokanji was ranked above the Five Temples, a privileged position that allowed it to grow into one of the most influential temples in western Japan under the lordship of Takemitsu and his descendants. In the late 1300s the temple grounds included 14 halls, and the temple remained an important center for scholarship into the late 1400s.

Kikuchi Takemitsu was buried at Shokanji. His tomb was restored in the nineteenth century and is located near the main hall, in the opposite direction from the temple’s modern-day cemetery.

※About the Kikuchi clan.（菊池一族とは）

※Other cultural property explanatory boards are also multilingual.（この他の文化財説明板も多言語化しています。）

熊耳山正観寺

　元弘３年（１３３３）、１２代武時が博多の鎮西探題を襲撃したとき、幼少の武光は博多の臨済宗聖福寺にかくまわれ、菊池へ無事に送り返されました。その恩義を忘れなかった武光が、同寺の大方元恢を招いて興国５年（１３４４）に建立した寺院です。元恢は京都建仁寺の開山栄西の法孫、鎌倉円覚寺の秀山元中の法嗣にあたり、同寺にある「洪釣堂」の額は元恢和尚の真筆と伝えられています。

　菊池武光は寺領６６町を寄進し、菊池氏全盛の頃、境内には万松院など１４坊や堂宇が建ち並び、宝徳３年（１４５１）、２０代為邦の頃には全国十刹の一つに数えられ、代々碩学の高僧を輩出した西国屈指の大寺院でした。しかし、菊池氏の衰退とともに寺運も傾いてしまいました。

　元禄３年（１６９０）に細川綱利が寺領１２石５斗を寄進し、寺の面目を保つことが出来ました。境内には正観公（武光）神道碑や武政、武澄らの墓があります。