Sachikuni-ji

Kojokuji, with the mountain name Shojosan, stands in Haramachi, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1630 (Kan'ei 7) with Kato Kiyomasa as its patron and Nakamyoin Nichikan as its founding priest, the temple holds an intriguing mystery — Kiyomasa had actually died in 1611, leaving uncertainty around the founding date. Revered as one of the Edo Jusozu, the Yakuyoke Hikibiki Sozu (evil-warding patriarch), it has survived two great fires in the Edo period and the 1945 Tokyo air raids, each time rising again. A 500-year-old ginkgo tree in the grounds, the oldest in Shinjuku ward, silently bears witness to this resilient history.