Kikuchi Gozan: Saifukuji Temple

Saifukuji Temple on the western side of the former castle town of Waifu was one of the Kikuchi Gozan (Five Temples): Zen temples that during the medieval period enjoyed the protection of the Kikuchi clan in exchange for performing various administrative, supervisory, and religious duties. Under the Gozan system, one temple guarded each of the four key points on the compass, with a central temple completing the quintet. Saifukuji was tasked with overseeing the west.

The Kikuchi Gozan were designated by Kikuchi Takemitsu (1319–1373), a reformer and successful strategist under whom the clan reached the height of its power. When he selected the Gozan, Takemitsu took after a tradition that began in China during the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279) and was brought to Japan by the Kamakura shogunate (1185–1333). The purpose of the Kamakura Gozan system was both to promote Zen, the school of Buddhism favored by the Kamakura shoguns, and to incorporate Zen temples into the government bureaucracy, thereby strengthening the shogunate’s control over the country and its people. The twin objectives of religious virtue and administrative benefits also motivated Kikuchi Takemitsu’s introduction of the Gozan system.

The small cemetery behind the temple’s main hall contains several tombstones and memorials thought to date back to the medieval period. Among these is a monument dedicated to Akahoshi Aritaka (d. 1333), a Kikuchi clan member who fought against the forces of Kublai Khan when the Mongol emperor attempted to invade Japan in 1274 and 1281.

※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。）

無量山西福寺

　西福寺は和銅２年（７０９）の開基と伝えられますが、開山は不明です。無量山と号しますが、もとは禅の古刹で、後に浄土宗に変わりました。

　１５代菊池武光が菊池五山を定めたとき、その一寺となります。文明１３年（１４８１）８月の「菊池万句」に「月ならて　苔地に秋の　色もなし　西福寺　廣誉」の句があり、廣誉開山説もありますが年代は異なっています。

　『国郡一統志』には「無量山西福禅寺ハ阿弥陀仏像ヲ安ジ、鎮守八幡・祇園・阿蘇三社ナリ」とあります。本尊は木彫りの阿弥陀仏で蓮台の上に立ち、台高１９ｃｍ、身丈９１ｃｍ、肩幅２５ｃｍで、孔雀の彫りがあり、光背は高さ１１８ｃｍ、均整のとれた仏像は室町末期の作と推定されます。

　本堂裏手の墓所には２０～３０基の五輪塔・宝篋印塔が散在しますが、その一郭には菊池氏の武将、赤星有隆や城武岑のものと伝えられる墓石があります。また享保１３年（１７２８）制作の釈迦涅槃像の掛け軸が保存されています。