Hofukuji Temple Senjakui

Senjakui Well of Hofukuji: The Legendary Well That Named a Mountain

Southwest of the Buddha hall at Hofukuji, a Zen temple in Soja City, Okayama Prefecture, lies a stone well mouth measuring 1.5 by 1.6 meters. Its frame is made of four granite slabs only 15 centimeters thick, notched at the ends and interlocked in the crosshatch pattern called igeta, the same shape as the character for "well." Below the frame, the shaft is lined with rounded stones. The temple holds this to be the oldest well in the precinct, and the present stonework is dated to the early Edo period, between 1615 and 1660.

The name Senjakui means "well of a thousand shaku," a poetic exaggeration suggesting unfathomable depth, since a thousand shaku would exceed 300 meters. Behind the name stands the temple's founding legend. In the Kamakura period, the monk Don'an Eso is said to have prayed for the recovery of the ailing Emperor Shijo; a star fell before the altar, the emperor recovered, and a well was dug where the star had landed. That well was named Senjakui, and from it the temple took its mountain name, Iyama, "Well Mountain."

Water from the well has traditionally served ceremonies in the adjacent Buddha hall. A working well, a founding miracle, and a mountain name all meet in this modest square of granite.

Why the Well Was Registered

The Senjakui was registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property on April 28, 2009, under number 33-0211, on the criterion of contributing to the historic scenery of the land. Japan's 1996 registration system extends protection to structures, including wells, gates, and walls, that shape the character of a historic site even when they are not monumental buildings.

For its size, the well is finished with unusual refinement. The slabs are kept thin, their edges crisp, so that a large frame reads as light rather than heavy. Small waterworks of this kind rarely survive with their early stonework intact, which gives the Senjakui documentary value for the daily life of an Edo-period Zen monastery.

What to Look For

Crouch beside the frame and study the corners. Each slab is cut away by half its thickness where it meets its neighbor, a lap joint known as aikaki, so the four stones grip one another without mortar. Then peer into the shaft: the lining of rounded stones has held its shape for some four centuries.

Hofukuji is best known as the boyhood training place of the painter Sesshu (1420-1506), and most visitors head for the three-story pagoda of 1376, the only building to survive the fires of 1575. The well sits quietly off that main route, southwest of the Buddha hall. Pausing here connects you to the older story, the falling star that gave the mountain its name, before the pagoda was ever raised.

The grounds are open free of charge. In November the maples color the stone frame with red reflections; after rain, the granite darkens and the joints stand out sharply.