Yawata city
Empuku-ji Temple


Designated Important Cultural Properties
Edo Period
Manninko
The Seated Figure of Bodhidharma

Empuku-ji Temple is a training center belonging to the Myoshin-ji school of the Rinzai sect. It was founded between 1781 and 88. The temple buildings, including a hall dedicated to the practice of Zen meditation, were improved around the end of the Edo Period (1600-1868) and are still used by many itinerant priests in self-training.
The seated figure of the Indian priest Bodhidharma (Daruma), enshrined here is a wooden statue carved in the Kamakura Period (1192-1333). The statue was transported from Daruma-ji Temple in Yamato Province to Yawata where the Tanaka family, an administrator of Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine, kept it with great care. In 1807, it was transferred to Priest Kaimon of Myoshin-ji Temple and enshrined in this temple. It is one of the country' s three great daruma images and is designated as a national important cultural property.
It is exhibited biannually on the occasion of the Manninko gathering held on April 20 and October 20.

Source: The Yawata municipal government

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