Ankokuji Temple

Ankokuji Temple is associated with some of the most difficult times in the history of the Kikuchi clan. The temple was established on the orders of Ashikaga Takauji (1305–1358), the founder and first shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate. In 1336, Takauji had emerged as the winner in a conflict between the imperial court and proponents of warrior rule, a civil war in which the Kikuchi clan had sided with the court but suffered a crushing defeat by Takauji’s forces.

In 1339, with his rule secure, Takauji ordered a “temple for the Peace of the Country” (Ankokuji) to be built in every province to comfort the souls of his vanquished rivals and all those who had died in the wars that had followed the fall of the Kamakura shogunate, the previous warrior-led government. In the Kikuchi-governed Higo Province (present-day Kumamoto Prefecture), an existing temple called Jushoji was chosen and renamed Ankokuji.

More than a century later, the temple became the site of another tragedy for the Kikuchi clan. Kikuchi Masataka (1491–1509), a former leader of the clan who had been deposed by his retainers, attempted to retake his rightful position but was defeated in battle. Masataka retreated to Ankokuji, where he committed ritual suicide before the temple was burned down by his enemies.

Ankokuji was rebuilt in 1515, and its main hall—the only building on the grounds today—dates to that year. The tomb of Kikuchi Masataka is located at the foot of a hill some distance behind the hall.

※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。）

安国寺（安国寺の堂宇）

　延元４年（１３３９）、室町幕府の将軍足利尊氏は、後醍醐天皇及び元弘の変以降の戦没者の追善、また国土安穏の祈祷を目的として全国に一国一寺の安国寺令を下しました。肥後では青原山寿勝寺が選ばれ、寿勝安国寺と改称し、これを機に伽藍は旧地堂床から現在地に移されました。

　永正６年（１５０９）、菊池２３代政隆と武経（阿蘇惟長）が久米原で戦火を交え、敗れた政隆は安国寺に入り自刃して果てました。この兵火で伽藍は焼失し、６年後の永正１２年（１５１５）に再建されたのが現在の堂宇です。

　堂宇は南向きで、元の部分を礎石から推定すると、横幅が約５ｍ、奥行きが約６ｍで、それに玄関が付きます。明治２０年（１８８７）に増築が行われ、奥に約３ｍを継ぎ足して仏間とし、外回りに約１ｍの手摺り付き濡れ縁を拡張してあります。