Kakurin-ji (覚林寺)

Seisho-ko-do

Main hall

Kakurin-ji (覚林寺), officially Saiseizan Kakurin-ji (最正山覚林寺), is a Nichiren Buddhist temple located in the Shirokanedai area of Minato-ku, Tokyo. It is commonly known among locals as Seisho-ko (清正公) or Shirokane no Seisho-ko-sama (白金の清正公さま), because it enshrines the mortuary tablet and statue of Kato Kiyomasa (加藤清正, 1562–1611), a daimyo of the Azuchi–Momoyama (1573–1603) and Edo (1603–1868) periods. The annual Seisho-ko Festival is held on May 4 and 5.

Temizu-ya (water pavilion)

The temple was founded by Kakan-in Nichien (可観院日延, 1589–1665), a Korean-born Buddhist priest. He was one of the sons of Prince Imhae (臨海君, 1572–1609), who was the eldest son of King Seonjo (宣祖), the 14th monarch of Korea's Joseon dynasty. When Kato led a campaign to Korea during the Imjin War, he brought Nichien, who was 4 years old at the time (Chikuzen-no-Kuni Zokufudoki fudoku states he was 7 years old), along with his sister back to Japan and took care of him. He later entered the Buddhist priesthood, taking the name Nichien, and eventually became the 18th head priest of Tanjo-ji (誕生寺), a Buddhist temple in Kamogawa, Chiba Prefecture.

After retiring, in Kan'ei 8 (1631) — twenty years after Kato's death — he founded Kakurin-ji to honor Kato Kiyomasa.

Bishamon-do (left) and Inari-do (right)

The temple is part of the Ganso Yamanote Shichifukujin (Seven Lucky Gods), as there is a small Bishamon-do (a hall enshrining Bishamonten, one of the Seven Lucky Gods) on the temple grounds.

Sanmon

The Seisho-ko-do (清正公堂) and sanmon (temple gate) are now designated Important Cultural Properties by Minato-ku.

The wooden plaque bearing the characters "破魔軍" hung at the Seisho-ko-do, behind the gong, was written by Prince Arisugawa Taruhito (1835–1895).

Memorial tower dedicated to the victims of the fire in 1845

Both the Seisho-ko and the sanmon were rebuilt in the late Edo period after they were destroyed in a fire that broke out in Aoyama in Koka 2 (1845). Next to the sanmon stands a memorial tower dedicated to those who lost their lives in the fire.