| Overview |
It is an independent temple of the Soto sect and is called Nanshozan Togaku-ji temple. The principal image is Shakyamuni-butsu. It was founded in Asakusa Shinteramachi (current Matsugaya 1-chome, Taito-ku) by a priest of Daichu-ji temple in Shimotsuke-no-kuni (Tochigi prefecture) in 1633. After suffering war damage, the temple moved to the current location in 1961. There is the tomb and monument of the first Ukiyo-e artist, Ando Hiroshige, famous for his works of Tokaido Gojusan-tsugi on the left through the temple gate (Tokyo Metropolitan designated cultural property). The tombstone was destroyed once due to the Great Kanto Earthquake and war damage, but it was rebuilt in 1958 when it was the 100th anniversary of Hiroshige's death. The monument was built in 1924. On the left of the monument, there is the tomb of John S. Happer, an American who introduced Hiroshige overseas, and nearby is the remains of the monument of Hanaya Kyujiro who published "Haifu Yanagi Daru." |
