Sёfuku-ji Temple in Fukuoka is known not only as the oldest Zen Buddhist temple in the city, but also as a place in which originated the tradition of the Japanese tea ceremony.

At the end of the XII century monk founder of the temple became Eisai, which is brought from China, and the new doctrine of Zen, and a few bushes of tea, which eventually turned into a tea plantation. Eisai is also known as the founder of the Buddhist Rinzai. In 1200 he moved to Kamakura, where there was a samurai government, and there founded several churches and monasteries. Temple Sёfuku-ji was founded on the orders of the ruler named Kamakura Minamoto Yoritomo in 1195.

As the promoter of the culture of tea drinking, Eisai established its cultivation and production. His experience, tea recipes, and even methods of treating various diseases that a drink he outlined in his treatise "Notes on the abominable tea for food of life" in 1214.

Today, the temple is one of the main attractions of the city. It is located almost in the center of Fukuoka, but the surrounding park and the decoration of the temple itself create an atmosphere that is substantially different from the life of a modern bustling city. The park is a pond where swimming carp, koi and turtles, and trees growing in it comfortable shade of the structure of the temple complex.

Among the valuables stored in Sёfuku-ji, we note personal belongings of the founder Eysaya, paintings in the style of sumi-e, made abbot, who headed the church in the XIX century, as well as paintings by famous Japanese artist Sang and calligraphic inscription made on a wooden plank hand of the Emperor Gotoba. The main attraction of the temple is considered cortex - the bell, cast in bronze in the Korean style. Himself Sёfuku-ji Temple is recognized as one of the most beautiful Zen Buddhist temples in Japan. We note that in Japan there is another church with the same name and is located in the city of Nagasaki.

Many temples in Japan have been destroyed or severely damaged during the Second World War, however, the oldest temple in Fukuoka Sёfuku-ji and Shinto shrine, Kushida Shrine, built in the middle of the VIII century, escaped this fate.