East Fukuoka · SasaguriNo.771★★Open in map →
Nanzoin Temple
— Sasaguri's head temple of the reclining Buddha
A Shingon head temple set in a stream-cut valley east of Fukuoka, known for one of the world's largest bronze reclining Buddhas. It opens the Sasaguri Shikoku pilgrimage, and it is run first of all as a place of prayer.
- FromHakata Station
- ~25 minJR train, then a 3 min walk
- Get off atKido-Nanzoin-mae Station (JR Fukuhoku Yutaka Line)
- On foot
- Nanzoin Temple
The sweet spot
This is a well-known temple that draws visitors from across Kyushu, so it is not a hidden find. What keeps it composed is the temple's own policy: it asks for quiet, restricts photography, and turns away anyone dressed for the beach. Meet those terms and the place reads as a congregation rather than a crowd.
Where it is
28 more notes in Fukuoka · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- Main gate and stairwaystone pillars naming the head temple, flanked by two bronze Hotei figures
- Main hallthe working centre of the temple, open to worshippers around the clock
- Shichifukujin Tunnela lit passage cut through the rock, hung with a plaited straw rope
- Shakyamuni Nirvana Statuethe reclining bronze figure, 11 metres high, with a relic chamber beneath it
- Bell towera belfry raised on a white plinth near the foot of the statue
How to actually get there
- Hakata Station → Kido-Nanzoin-mae Station (JR Fukuhoku Yutaka Line, rapid, about 20 minutes).
- Kido-Nanzoin-mae Station → temple entrance (walk about 3 minutes).
- Gate → main hall → Shichifukujin Tunnel → reclining Buddha, then back down the same valley.
- JR Fukuhoku Yutaka Line from Hakata
- Hakata Station →(JR Fukuhoku Yutaka Line, rapid, about 20 minutes)→ Kido-Nanzoin-mae Station. The temple entrance is about a three-minute walk from the platform, so the whole trip runs to roughly half an hour. Local trains take longer and stop more often.
- Return from Kido-Nanzoin-mae
- Trains run back toward Hakata from the same small station. Service thins in the evening, and the statue side shuts well before dark, so plan the return while it is still light. Check the departure board on the platform before you start back up the valley.
About the place
The temple fills a wooded valley in Sasaguri, a hill town on the eastern edge of Fukuoka. Its grounds follow a stream, rising from a stone stairway at the entrance past halls, small shrines and a tunnel bored through rock. At the lower end lies the Shakyamuni Nirvana Statue, a bronze reclining Buddha of 41 metres and roughly 300 tonnes. Nanzoin is the head temple of the Sasaguri Shikoku, a pilgrimage of eighty-eight sites spread through the surrounding hills. White-clad pilgrims still work that route, so the precinct runs on practice rather than on tour schedules.
How to enjoy it
Arrive in the morning, take the gate and the main hall first, then drop through the tunnel to the statue — the order the valley is laid out in. The statue side closes in the late afternoon, with the last reception at 16:30, while the main hall stays open through the night. Sort out the dress code before you leave your hotel: shoulders and knees need covering.
Background & history
The Sasaguri pilgrimage was laid out in the Edo period, then ordered abolished during the Meiji campaign against Buddhism. Local people petitioned for years, and the circuit was saved in 1899 by inviting Nanzoin down from Mount Koya to serve as its head temple. Much later the Buddhist authorities of Myanmar presented the temple with relics of Shakyamuni and two of his disciples. The reclining Buddha was raised to house those relics and was completed in 1995.
Before you go
- Cash
- The reclining Buddha side is ticketed; the main hall and the lower precinct are not. Fees and opening hours are posted on the official site, so confirm them before you travel. Carry coins for the prayer desk and the shop, and note the station is an unstaffed halt.
- Before you go
- Photography beyond a personal snapshot needs the temple's permission, and selfie sticks, stabilisers and tripods are not allowed. Eating, drinking and loud talk are prohibited in the precinct. The valley path is steep in places and unlit after dark.
- Another way
- By car from central Fukuoka, Route 201 runs east into Sasaguri in about half an hour. The temple keeps free parking areas near the entrance, but buses of any size are excluded from them.
- After you get off
- From Kido-Nanzoin-mae Station, cross toward the stream and follow the road east for about three minutes to the stone pillars at the foot of the stairway.