SOTOZEN-NET

General View of the Eiheiji The Soto Zen sect has two head temples. One is the Soujiji in Tsurumi,Yokohama. The other is the Eiheiji in Fukui Prefecture. In 1244,Dogen Zenji, the founder of Soto Zen, opened a temple called the Sanshoho Daibutsu-ji, the name of which was later changed to Kichijozan Eiheiji.This was the beginning of the Eiheiji as we know it now.

Founder’s Hall or Taisodo Soto Zen has two head temples. One is the Eiheiji; the other the Sojiji.The priest Keizan Zenji (1227–1325) was head of the temple Morookaji,in modern Ishikawa Prefecture. In 1321, he renamed the temple the Shogaku-zan Sojiji. When this Sojiji burned down during the Meiji period (1867–1912), it was relocated in Yokohama, where it is today.