(Translated by Google) The official name is Horaisan Eikokuji Temple of the Soto sect of Buddhism. It is the ninth bill place of Higo Sanju-san Kannon, which is located at the end of Daihonzan Sojiji Temple. The principal image of worship is Shakyamuni Buddha, and Monju and Fugen Bodhisattvas are enshrined as attendants. It is estimated to have been made between the end of Kamakura and the early Muromachi period, and it is written inside the statue that it was repaired by Kyoshi Daibutsu Hohashi Kosuke from 1673 to 1673. In 1976, the current chief priest, Shinzan, repaired it again for the first time in about 300 years.
In the 17th year of Oei (1410), Sakitsugu Sagara moved the Toshozan Seimei-in Temple from Shichichi (Hitoyoshi City) to this place and invited Jitei-choshin to open it. did. Since then, I will be in my 40s at my current position.
During the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877, the Satsuma army headquarters was set up here, but it was completely destroyed by fire. A stone monument of Takamori Saigo stands next to the main hall. The temple treasure is a picture of a ghost hanging scroll made in the first year of Ouei (1394-1428).
In addition, around Mt. Horai in the back, the guardian Inari Tokatsu Daimyojin is enshrined. The view from this shrine is a perfect view of the city of Hitoyoshi.
ghost hanging scroll
This hanging scroll is said to have been drawn by Jitsuko Choshin, the founder of Eikokuji Temple.
At the time of the temple's founding, there was a famous samurai in Kinoue, a nearby town, who surrounded himself with a concubine. However, the grudge became a ghost and tormented his legal wife. The legal wife relied on the power of Jitsukotsu Choshin Osho and rushed into Eikokuji Temple. The ghost that appeared in front of the priest was told by the priest about the laws of cause and effect. It is said that he attained Buddhahood and then disappeared. The pond behind the main hall, where ghosts are said to have appeared, is a spring-fed pond. In spring, azaleas and seaweeds bloom, and in summer, water lilies bloom in profusion, allowing you to enjoy the changing seasons.
(Original)
正式名を曹洞宗蓬莱(ほうらい)山永国寺といいます。大本山総持寺御直末、肥後三十三観音第九番札所です。本尊は、釈迦牟尼仏で脇侍に文殊、普賢両菩薩を安置しています。鎌倉末~室町初期の作と推定され、像内に延宝元年(1673)より同3年まで、京師大仏法橋康祐に依って補修された旨記しています。昭和52年(1976)に現晋山住職により、約300年ぶりに再補修しました。
応永17年(1410)、相良前続(さがらさきつぐ)が七地(人吉市)にあった東照山清明院を当地に移し、実底超真(じっていちょうしん)を招いて開基しました。以来、現在の住職で四十代になります。
明治10年(1877)の西南戦争時には薩摩軍本営がおかれ、戦火で全焼。本堂脇には西郷隆盛の遺蹟碑が立っています。寺宝は、応永元年(1394~1428)作の幽霊掛軸の絵で、毎年8月旧盆の頃、幽霊まつりが催されます。
また、裏の蓬莱山頃には、鎮守稲荷富勝大明神を祀っています。この社殿よりの眺めは、人吉市街を一望に収める絶好の眺望です。
幽霊掛軸
永国寺を開山した実底超真和尚が描いたと伝えられる掛軸です。
創建当時、近郷の木上に、さる知名の士がおり、妾を囲ったが、本妻の嫉妬に悩み、球磨川に身を投げて、非業の死を遂げました。しかし、その怨みが幽霊となり、本妻を苦しめました。本妻は実底超真和尚の法力を頼り、永国寺に駆け込みました。和尚の前に現れた幽霊は、和尚より因果の道理を説き聞かされ、和尚が描いた己れの醜い姿に驚き、和尚に引導を渡して欲しいと懇願し、実底超真和尚の引導に依り成仏し、それから現れなくなったと伝えられています。本堂裏の幽霊が出たという池は、湧水池で、春にはつつじ、海棠等、夏には水蓮など咲き乱れ、四季折々の変化を楽しむことができます。