Places in Japan: Gotokuji Temple

BASIC INFORMATION

• Name: Gotokuji Temple
• Where: Setagaya City, Tokyo, Japan
• Hours: 06:00AM – 06:00PM
• Cost: Free
• More Information: Official website

Directions

Gotokuji Temple is located in the Tokyo suburb of Setagaya City.  The closest subway station is Miyanosaka station on the Tokyo Setagaya line. The temple is only a 5-minute walk from this station.  An alternative is to take the Odakyu Line to Gotokuji Station where it is a 15-minute walk to the temple.

Parking

For people driving to the temple parking can be very difficult.  It took me a while of driving around before a parking space opened at one of the nearby pay lots.  Highly recommend taking the train to access this temple due to the difficulty of trying to find parking.

Narrative

There are many temples in Tokyo for visitors to check out, but some of them are more interesting than others.  One of the more interesting temples for visitors to Tokyo to check out is Gotokuji Temple.  This temple has differentiated itself from other temples by being known as the “Lucky Cat” temple.  The temple claims to be the birth place of the manekineko, or the ubiquitous lucky cat figurines found all over Japan.

Before this temple became famous for cat figurines, it was first built in 1480 as Bodaiji Temple. In 1659, it was renamed Gotokuji in honor of the second lord of the Ii dynasty that ruled the then Edo area.  He was known as “Kyushoin-den-Gotoku-Tenei-Daikoji”.

For being in the middle of the Tokyo metropolis, Gotokuji Temple can feel like it is in the countryside somewhere.  This is because the temple is lined with large pine trees as you enter on to its grounds:

I then passed through another gate to enter the main area of Gotokuji Temple:

After passing through the gate I could see the Kaiso-do hall in front of me.  For being an old temple the buildings are mostly of a much newer vintage.  For example the beautiful Kaiso-do hall was built in 1999.  Inside the hall there are statues sitting in chairs of Sokan-daiosho, the first builder of Gotokuji temple and other priests that were important to the history of the temple:

Ho-do is the main hall of the temple that is also of newer vintage being built back in 1967.  Inside it houses various Buddhist statues, but it was closed the day I visited:

Another newer structure at Gotokuji Temple is the Sanju-no-to pagoda that was constructed in 2006.  It has three three levels and enshrines the Buddhist statues of Shakanyorai, Kasho-sonzya, Anan-sonzya and Manekineko-kannon:

The Jizo-do pavilion is a very new structure built in 2020 that has a statue of a Buddha in the half lotus position inside.  However, the pavilion is only open on certain holidays so I did not get to see the statue during my visit:

A structure that is old at Gotokuji temple is the Butsu-den.  This Buddha hall was built all the way back in 1677.  Buddhist statues are enshrined inside this building as well:

This bell called Bonsho is said to be the oldest relic that remains at Gotokuji Temple:

So how did this rather average looking temple become famous for lucky cat figurines?  The legend claims that in 1659, when the previously mentioned lord Ii Naotaka ruled the Edo area, he escaped a thunderstorm when a cat invited him to stay at the temple.  To thank the cat Ii Naotaka dedicated the temple to the Ii clan.  This legend whether it is real or not caused the temple to become filled with cat figurines that worshippers believed to be lucky.

Visitors to the temple can buy their own lucky cat figurine known as a “Manekineko” and place it at the temple for good fortune:

Many manekineko figurines in Japan have the cat hold a coin in its right paw.  However, at Gotokuji the figurines there do not have a coin.  That is how you can tell whether the manekineko is from Gotokuji or not:

If you can’t get enough of cat figurines there is also a cat statue to check out:

You can even buy cat prayer cards to hang up at the temple to help you receive good fortune if you think buying a lucky cat figurine is not enough:

If you get tired of checking out cat figurines, adjacent to the temple there is also a very large cemetery where descendants of the Ii Clan that have supported the temple for many centuries is buried:

Conclusion

Gotokuji Temple should be a must visit location in Tokyo for any cat lover.  They will assuredly enjoy seeing all the Manekineko cat figurines that can be found all around the temple.  For those that don’t like cats they may find the temple to be rather average compared to the more striking and scenic temples to be found in the Tokyo area.