禅 in Mikatakaminaka-gun

Very big peaceful and oldest zen Buddhist temple

I could observe many monks in training and performing various rituals. I felt the cultural importance of this temple and I had a great time.

Very peaceful and spiritual place. I loved the way the monks take care about inner space and outside gardens, this is real ZEN. Thank you! I would like to come here once more.

One of the must visit place in Japan. You should once try Zazen at Eiheiji Temple. They have 3 times per day Zazen for outside people. The temple Monk will provide and show to you how to to do Zazen for beginners. You never forget your first Zazen experience

One of my favourite temples to visit. It’s a large complex with many buildings full of beautiful wooden carvings and well preserved artwork. Monks and guests actively live and practice here, so sometimes you can get an intimate peek into their daily life and practice.

The temple is so beautiful.

Its a wonderful world where you can really calm your mind,Beautiful temple

Beautiful architecture and rich history disturbed by modern preservation methods, lighting, and other fixtures.

Great and peaceful place. People are nice too!

Loved this temple so much—only the dullest of heart would fail to be moved by its beauty.

Very nice temple

Very extraordinary place to be! Meditative, beautiful!

Other reviewers have said all of what Ill say already but it really is something else. At once busy with the monks activities but still tranquil and awe-inspiring. The large, complex structure could have kept me much longer than the short hour I had there. The staff is kind and helpful, while the signs and guidebook are informative for grasping at least the basics of what the different halls and figures mean. I have never been to such an active temple before, but I suppose its only natural for a founding temple of a popular sect. Highly recommend.

Old shrine nice trees good place to hangout

Beautiful Beautiful wooden temple. Must visit if your are in Fukui

Beautiful, serene temple in a beautiful setting just at the foot of the mountain in the forest.

Here, you can feel Zen......

Beautiful temple, beautiful gardens, very historic very tranquil. Escape reality for couple hours and vist here.

Still a very active Temple lots of Monks and even more stairs, will definitely get my steps in.

Mind blowing

Peaceful experience

Extraordinary experience to visit this temple and learn more about Dogen, his role in Japanese Buddhism and Zen. Allow at least 2 hours to visit and enjoy this place. Use the map to follow beat route designed by temple administrators. I had JR Railpass so traveled to Fukui Station. Bus tickets cost 720 yen one way to Eiheiji.

Beautiful garden outside. The town was a bit too touristy

Most Beautiful and peaceful temple Ive visited in Japan, outside Miyagi prefecture. Active monks run the temple and allow you to view ceremonies. Just great

Most spiritual experience I had as an atheist. The history and intensity of this place is awe inspiring.

We took the Eihei-ji Liner bus at the bus stop from the east exit of Fukui Station to Eihei-ji. When we got off the bus, the rain was very heavy. Fortunately, the stop was a building to prevent being wet. After a while, when the rain was getting lighter, we walked to the visitor center to buy the tickets. The center was self-service , there was a ticket machine, and lots of information to take. After buying the tickets, we walked to Eihei-ji.Eihei-ji was one of two main temples of Sōtō Zen in Japan. The temple name was "Ji-siang Mountain" meaning happiness allover the mountain. And , the main god was Sakyamuni, Maitreya Buddha and Amitabha. Normally, the famous mountain gate named "Tangmen" we saw on the poster was closed, and the visitors came in and out from the General Gate which was a big building and had to go upstairs.When entering the building, we took off shoes, handed over the tickets and our shuincho to the counter staffs, and when we finished visiting, returned to take the shuincho. I saw a few piles of shuinchos on the counter, and three staffs were busy writing. Obviously , the number of visitors here was amazing! At present, there were still more than 200 monks practicing here, so it was very impolite to be noisy and take pictures against the monks.Eihei-ji covered a very large area. It was said that there were more than 70 buildings and it stretched over the whole mountain. Therefore, it spended at least two to three hours to finish visiting. Even though, the visit indicators were very detailed and perfect, as long as visitors followed the indicators, they would never get lost. Because Eihei-ji was far away from the city, it was very quiet, and the buildings were built on the mountain, blending with nature, surrounded by centuries-old giant firs, so many tourists came here mainly for the tranquility and beauty. This was also one of the reasons why I loved this temple very much.There were many places worthy of savoring in this temple. When we stepped into the Big Hall, we were deeply attracted by hundreds of beautiful flower and bird paintings on the ceiling. The temple staffs were afraid that the visitors would be too hard to enjoy the paintings, so they copied the paintings to be smaller ones and gathered on the wall for the visitors to enjoy them. When we walked to the Big Restaurant, we saw a huge stick hanging from the ceiling. It was said that it symbolized cooking. So as visitors touched it by hand, they would be good at cooking. Very interesting! Besides, there were many buildings connected each oter with the corridors, even if it rained, didnt worry. If visitors walked to be tired, there were lots of chairs for them to rest. It was worthy to mention that there were many rest rooms, and even platforms for infants to change diapers. How thoughtful the staffs were!!If you want to visit Eihei-ji, then I suggest you to purchase the Eihei-ji- Tojinbo 2 day pass bus ticket at the Keifuku Bus Counter of Echizen Railway Fukui Station and take the Eihei-ji Line at the east exit of Fukui Station. This will save you much time and money!我們在福井站東口搭乘永平寺專車前往，下車時，雨下得很大，幸好車站是一棟建物，不至於被淋濕。等過一會兒，雨勢較小後，我們就走路過去案內所買票。案內所採自助式，有購票機，也有許多資訊可以拿。買好票後，我們再循著參道前往永平寺。永平寺是曹洞宗的大本山，廟號是吉祥山，主祀釋迦摩尼、彌勒佛和阿彌陀如來。平常我們在永平寺海報上看到的唐門平日是關閉的，遊客都從一旁的通用門進出。通用門是個很大的建築，必須走樓梯上去，一進室內，就要脫鞋子，然後將票交給櫃檯檢查，如果要寫御朱印，也把帳冊交給櫃檯，等參觀完後再回頭來拿。只見櫃檯上推放著好幾堆的御朱帳冊，右面還有三個職員在忙著寫御朱印，可見這裡的遊客有多少。目前還有200多位僧人在這裡修行，所以入內參觀時，千萬要保持肅靜，也不可以拍攝僧人，那是很不禮貌的。永平寺佔地非常大，據說有超過70棟建築，綿延整座山，所以至少要花兩、三個小時，才可能走完，儘管如此，寺廟的參觀指標做得很詳細，也很完善，所以只要遵循指標走，絕對不會迷路。由於永平寺遠離塵囂，非常幽靜，建築依山而建，與自然融為一體，周邊被百年巨杉環繞著，所以鏡頭每每能夠捕捉到美麗的畫面，許多遊客專程來這裡，就是為了這裡的寧靜與美景。這也是我非常喜愛這座寺廟的原因之一。永平寺有許多值得細細品味的地方，當我們踏進傘松閣大廳時，被天花板上數百幅精美的花鳥畫深深吸引住了，廟方怕遊客仰頭過於辛苦，還將各幅畫作複製、集結在一起，做成告示牌讓遊客可以盡情欣賞。而當我們走到寺方用膳的大庫院時，看到堂前懸掛著一根巨大的棒子，據說那是象徵煮飯的工具，只要用手撫摸，就會廚藝大進，非常有趣。永平寺裡的迴廊很多，各棟建築相互聯繫，即使下雨，也不必擔心，走累了，還有椅子可以休息，化妝室也很多，甚至還有為嬰兒準備換尿布的平台，實在非常貼心。如果您想造訪永平寺，那麼我建議您可以在越前鐵道福井站的京福巴士櫃台購買永平寺東尋坊巴士二日乘車券，在福井站東口搭乘永平寺專線前往，這樣會比較省時間和金錢喔!

One of the most impressive temples I have ever been. A brilliant structure, all connected, with impressive halls, magnificent gates and breathtaking nature surrounding it. It’s a gem and truly peaceful place. Also, it’s worth to do the short zen experience in the end of the tour.

its so nice culture love it

A big dreat temple with huge trees and beautiful gardens, contrary to solemn wooden and stone buildings. Worth to visit, however, traffic jam is terrible in vacasion seasons, full of visitors.

Interesting huge temple. A bit too commercial for our taste.

Beautiful Zen temple set in a secluded mountain environment with mossy rocks and majestic centuries old cedar trees.

Great place to visiting

Large temple. Highlight here was seeing the monks training. Never seen them chanting in a group like this before. Also the painted roof was nice

A chill, peaceful space to hang out for a few hours.

A quiet and peaceful temple, modeat, with a sense of humblness, will revisit if have chance

It is a wonderful experience to spend the night here -- everyone is so kind and welcoming in addition to the peace and serenity you feel everywhere you wander on the massive grounds.

From sightseeing perspective seems it was great place but they built new pathways and visitors can’t go outside.

Working monastery with 800+ year history

nice place

You may think that youve seen enough temples and shrines to last your whole life. But coming to the headquarters of an entire order is a whole other experience altogether. Absolutely life-changing.

Very beautiful and active temple. With the snow adds more beauty and for first timers, will wow you.

Nice area.

An extraordinarily gorgeous temple and town in Fukui that is guaranteed to amaze. It is a active temple with students and masters regularly performing buddhist ceremonies and living the life style. The grounds are very beautiful and quite spacious. The buildings are positioned in such a way that it would be impossible to leave without a perfect photo. It is also a wheel chair accessible temple with a kind and accommodating staff. The perfect temple experience.

You can relax in TERA！

Must see a huge cedar tree over 700 years old.That was a heart-touching moment.

Absolutely stunning temple and surroundings. Very different aesthetic style from the colorful temples in Tokyo - everything is more understated. The inside of the temple is just as beautiful. Unlike many temples popular with tourists, this one is still very functional. Monks roam the halls and you can sign up for meditation training.

Stand tall to go through hundreds of wooden steps and pray to Buddha for my fatigued waste. And it really became better then.

Just beautiful, words cant really describe it. You have to come check this temple out if youre in the area. Please be respectful when youre here.

A must see temple of in this part of Japan. I did not do one of the overnight training programs although I imagine it must be an interesting experience. 500 yen entrance fee per adult to actually go in the temple. Many monks in training here and frequent services.

Very peaceful place. Did 3 nights 4 days training and absolutely great experience!!! Can appreciate their simple yet great Vegetarian cuisine