Sengaku-ji 泉岳寺

Sôtô Zen Buddhist temple / japanischer Tempel

Takanawa / Tôkyô

Sengaku-ji is famous for its masterless samurai, the “47 rônin from Ako”, also known as akô-rôshi, who are buried and honored here. When Prince Asano was forced to commit ritual suicide at the beginning of the 18th century due to an intrigue by Prince Kira, his death was not avenged until a year later, when Kira felt already safe, by the 47 samurai under the leadership of ÔISHI Kuranosuke. Kira was killed and his head placed on Lord Asano’s grave. The samurai then killed themselves. The seated figure in the courtyard – seated in the traditional Zazen meditation posture – depicts KÔDÔ Sawaki, one of the most influential Japanese Zen masters of the 20th century.