Shuzenji Temple

The Shuzenji temple in the hot spring area of the same name in The Izu peninsula is a temple built in 807. Originally a Buddhist temple, converted to Rinzai sect in 1250, the current temple was rebuilt in 1883.
The second shogun Minamoto Yoriie was exiled to this temple, and later murdered here in 1204. Famous Japanese writers Natsume Sozeki, Okamoto Kido and Shimaki Kensaku, wrote stories inspired by the temple after visiting.



The temple entrance, close to the famous Tokko-no-yu hot spring, is at the center of the city and thus visitors in Yukatas are a common view at the temple gate.



Trees and a small hill beautifully frame the main hall, there is also small bamboo forest located next to the bell tower.




A dozen small stone statues of monks are lined up at the entrance of one of the hall. The temple used to be a monastery and housed hundreds of monks, currently no monks live at the premises.

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Hot spring resort-town Shuzenji

Shuzenji in the center of the Izu penizula in Shizuoka prefecture, the town was built 1200 years ago around the the Shuzenji temple, famous for its hot springs.


According to the legend the great monk Kobo Daishi, pounded on a rock with his walking stick, called a ‘tokko’ to bring forth the hot spring water. The spring was therefore named Tokko-no-yu, or Tokko Hot Spring. The spring is at the center of the town, and it is used now as a foot bath only..


The town is full of ryokans, Japanese style Inns, many of them open their hot springs to non-staying visitors.

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Nirayama Furnace

Nirayama reverberatory furnace in Izonokuni city in the Shizuoka prefecture, are the remains of the furnace build by the izu magistrate Egawa Tarezaemon in 1854 at end of the edo period, to cast cannons.
At the end of the edo period, Japan closed its port to foreign countries, as a result, many countries tried to force the opening of its ports. To protect the country from these attacks, Japan developed a costal defense, with a large number of cannons required for this. Many furnaces were built to manufacture the required cannons, with only two remaining to this day, the one in Nirayama and other in Hagi, with the Nirayama one being the only one retaining most of its original form.




The reverberatory furnace was built following a Dutch design. The quality of the refractory bricks and the sophistication is said to be comparable to today’s blast furnaces. The furnance has been designated a national historical site.




Large and small cannons were cast here to be used, mainly for the Edo bay defense. The Odaiba artillery was built at this furnace.





The site is next to a small stream, tea field and factory (this being Shizuoka after all) giving a peaceful background for a site with such industrious past.

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Kunozan Toshogu Shrine to Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tokugawa Ieyasu, the greatest shogun in the Japanese history, was the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate which controlled Japan for more than 260 years. Ieayasu united and stabilized a country previously ravaged by war, setting a peaceful period that fostered the advance of economy and culture.
In 1605 Ieyasu handed over his position as Shogun to his son Hideata and retired to his childhood home in Sumpu castle in Shizuoka.
In life, he expressed his wish to became a “kami” or divinity after his death to protect his descendants. Accordingly, he was deified after his death and buried at Kunozan, his remains were later moved to Nikko Toshogu, but his spirit is considered still enshrined at Kunozan.
All the thirteen structures at Kunozan are the originals and have been designated as an important cultural property.






The shrine sits on top of the Kunozan hills, there is a ropeway to the shrine but climbing the 1159 stone steps leading to the shrine is considered a purifying ritual, additionally you can enjoy the fantastic view of the city, from the hill steps.



After climbing the stone steps, you can enter the grounds through the first gate (unless you use the ropeway that will take you a bit higher) a modest austere wooden gate that leads to more steps.





After the steps, the second gate “roumon” is visible, a more elaborated wooden structure, this gate delimits the Toshogu shrine. After the gate the “Shinkyu” or sacred stable of the Tokugawa’s favorite horse is at the left and the drum tower or “Korou” at the right.




After a few more steps, the gate to the main hall is visible, but as is closed to general public, a side gate is used instead.












The main hall is a fantastic wooden building built by the famous master carpenter Masakyo Nakai in an amazing short period of 19 months. The main hall is not only of a beautiful design but the detail of the decorations is astounding.




Most of the visitors return at this point but there is a back door leading to more steps and to the small shrine where Ieyasu was originally buried. The shrine is very austere compared to the main hall.


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