Hokokuji Temple (Bamboo Temple)

Hokokuji Temple (Bamboo Temple)

Hokokuji Temple was financially supported by Ashikaga Ietoki, a military commander in the mid-Kamakura period, and was founded in 1334 by Tengan Eko, a monk who lived in the late Kamakura period.
It is said that Shigekane Uesugi, the first head of the powerful Takuma-Uesugi family in the Muromachi period, was involved in the foundation of the temple.
Tengan Eko was a monk who studied in Yuan China, and Eko’s autographic collection of poems, “Tokishu,” has been designated a National Important Cultural Property.
It is well known as the "Temple of Bamboo Garden" for its ancient bamboo grove of moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) in the temple precincts.