[2025 Sendai Attraction] Travel Guide for Shifukuji (Updated Jul)

Jiunzan Shifuku Zen Temple (commonly known as Shifukuji) is located in Kitayama, Aoba Ward, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. This temple belongs to the Myoshinji school of the Rinzai sect and is renowned for its hydrangeas planted within its grounds. Visiting during the rainy season at the end of June offers a perfect opportunity to admire the beauty of these flowers. Experience the breathtaking sight of 1,200 vibrant hydrangeas in full bloom at "Sendai Hydrangea Temple Shifukuji" in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture! Spend a healing time surrounded by nature and the rich historical culture of Japan!

#FebruaryDestinations2025 #TohokuJapan #Miyagi #Sendai Sendai Shifukuji Temple is located to the east of Rinnoji Temple and has an independent staircase gate. However, the cemetery mountain behind the temple is connected to the back mountain of Rinnoji Temple, so there is no need to go down the mountain and then go up the mountain. The garden of Zifuku-ji Temple is not big. It mainly has a few pine trees (there are ropes on them to prevent them from being crushed by snow, just like the Kenrokuen Garden in Kanazawa) and some Japanese garden decorations. There is no fee for fencing.

In the third year of Genki, Date Terumune invited Koya Soetsu from Mino to revive and establish the temple. With the relocation of the Date clan, the temple moved from Iwadeyama, through Sendai Yachikoji, to Kitayama, and is now widely known as the Hydrangea Temple. Located in one of the castle towns of Sendai, the temple town stretches from the east of Ise-doyama to the southern foothills of the hills extending to Kashimazaki in Tsutsumimachi, in the former Kitayama Town (now Kitayama, Aoba Ward, and others). At the eastern end of the town, at the end of Kimachi-dori, is Kakuhanji, the family temple of Terumune. Adjacent to the west of the temple grounds is Jiuunzan Shifukuji, a temple revived by Terumune who invited Koya Soetsu from Mino, and reestablished as a temple of the Rinzai sect Myoshinji school. The Kannon Hall of Shifukuji was relocated from Jokoji, where the second lord Tadamune's ashes were enshrined. It houses the sacred Kannon, which is said to be the guardian deity of Fujiwara no Hidehira's third son, Izumi Saburo Tadahira, and is the third stop on the Sendai 33 Kannon pilgrimage. Additionally, the temple grounds are home to the 'Shifukuji Koyozan' and 'Shifukuji Seven Fragrant Magnolias,' which are designated as preserved trees by Sendai City.