Jofukuji Temple (Okawa)

About Jofukuji Temple (Okawa)

Jofukuji Temple (Okawa) (浄福寺, Jōfuku-ji) is a Jodo Shinshu Honganji-ha Buddhist temple in Kobo, Okawa City, Fukuoka Prefecture, whose main hall, rebuilt in 1834, and two other structures were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 2023.

The three registered structures are the main hall, the main gate and a detached guest room. Each belongs to a different era: the hall is late Edo, the gate dates from the first years of Meiji, and the guest room is Taisho. The temple's mountain name, Kobozan, is taken from the district.

A second, unrelated Jofukuji stands in Minami Ward of Fukuoka City, where the temple's bell tower is also a registered property. To keep the two apart, this site adds the town name and calls this one Jofukuji Temple (Okawa).

A Temple on the Old Domain Border

Jofukuji Temple (Okawa) sits in Kobo, one half of a historic streetscape near the mouth of the Chikugo River; the other half is neighbouring Enokizu. According to the Chikugo regional tourism board, Enokizu grew up as a ferry landing and port of the Kurume domain in the Edo period, while Kobo was a post town of the Yanagawa domain. A line of stone markers known as the Osakaiishi still traces the boundary, and locals call the area the Hanzakai no Machi, the town on the domain border.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs places the temple in the Enokizu streetscape known for woodworking. Okawa is Japan's best-known furniture town, and Kobo and Enokizu are regarded as the place where that trade began.

Okawa City describes Jofukuji as standing along the old highway on the south side of Kamimachi-ichiba in Kobo, facing northeast. The main gate opens directly onto the street, the main hall stands behind it, and the detached guest room lies behind the hall.

History of Jofukuji Temple (Okawa)

The Kobo-Enokizu preservation society records a temple tradition that, until about the Tensho era (1573 to 1592), Jofukuji Temple (Okawa) was a Tendai temple called Kobozan Jushinji and served as the prayer temple of Tsumura Hidekado, lord of Tsumura Castle. It later joined the Honganji and took the name Kobozan Jofukuji.

The same source dates that change to "Tenna 6 (1620)". The Tenna era, however, lasted only four years, and 1620 corresponds to Genna 6. Because it is not clear which is intended, this page simply places the change in the early Edo period.

In the directory of the Fukuoka district of the Honganji-ha, Jofukuji Temple (Okawa) is listed under the Yanagawa parish group.

The Three Registered Structures

The three structures of Jofukuji Temple (Okawa) were registered on 27 February 2023 under consecutive numbers 40-0211 to 40-0213. The Agency's database gives the following dates and sizes.

• Main Hall: 1834. Single-storey timber building with a tiled roof, building area 161 m².
• Main Gate: around 1872. Timber with a tiled roof, 2.8 m wide.
• Detached Room: around 1916. Single-storey timber building with a tiled roof, building area 60 m².

The main hall and gate were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape of the country, and the detached room as a model of its type of design. The main hall was re-roofed and repaired in 2004.

An unregistered bell tower also stands in the precinct. Each registered building has its own page with details of its structure and what to look for.

Visiting Jofukuji Temple (Okawa)

Jofukuji Temple (Okawa) is a working parish temple and publishes no opening hours or admission fee. The gate and the outside of the main hall can be seen from the street and from in front of the gate. The hall interior is not normally open, but guided tours run by the local preservation society include the main hall on some dates, and anyone hoping to see inside is asked to arrange it through a tour.

Tours are booked through the contact form on the Hanzakai no Machi website at least 5 days in advance, and English-speaking guides are available. The 2.5-hour town walk costs 6,000 yen for up to 2 people (checked September 2026).

No official guidance on photography could be found (checked September 2026). If you want to take pictures in the precinct, ask someone at the temple first.

By public transport, take the Nishitetsu Tenjin Omuta Line to Nishitetsu Yanagawa Station, then a Nishitetsu bus bound for JR Saga Station for about 20 minutes to the Nakahara Takagi Byoin-mae stop (中原高木病院前). The historic district is about 10 minutes on foot from there. Drivers can use the free Kobo visitor car park at 165-1 Kobo, Okawa City, open 24 hours.