Fuki-ji

Fuki-ji temple’s main hall is perhaps the simplest and most elegant Buddhist structure found anywhere 
in Japan. Built in the 12th Century, it is also the oldest wooden structure in Kyushu. Fuki-ji is beautiful to see throughout the year but especially so when the surrounding trees are 
covered in their vibrant autumn foliage.

Recognised as a National Treasure, Fuki-ji is listed with the Phoenix Hall at Byodoin in Uji near Kyoto and the Golden Hall at Chuson-ji in Hiraizumi. All three are dedicated to the Amidha Buddha yet unlike its richly decorated and celebrated peers, Fuki-ji today has an air of time-worn, tranquil beauty. The approach to it through bucolic countryside gives little inkling of its presence found on a slight rise overlooking a tiny hamlet. A short flight of worn, ancient stone steps, flanked by two fearsome-looking Nio guardian deities, leads to the temple’s main hall, an intimate and serene building that demurely blends into it surroundings.