Japan will designate Buddhist Manpuku-ji Temple in Kyoto as a national treasure, and six other structures as important cultural properties.
A meeting at the Agency for Cultural Affairs reached the conclusion and reported it to Culture Minister Abe Toshiko on Friday.
Manpuku-ji, the leading temple of the Obaku-shu sect of Zen Buddhism, is located in Kyoto Prefecture’s Uji City. Its Daiohoden hall and two other structures will be given national treasure status.
The temple was founded in the 17th century by Zen master Ingen Ryuki, who came from China. The agency says the temple was built in a unique style that incorporated methods from Chinese Buddhism into the Japanese way of building temples.
New disciplines, including architecture, art and “sencha” green tea, spread from the temple across Japan.
One of the six structures chosen as an important cultural property is Sojiji Soin temple in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture. It was built on the location of an older temple destroyed by a fire in the late 19th century.
It was hit by two earthquakes, first in 2007, and on New Year’s Day this year. Despite this, the temple has preserved its appearance of more than 100 years ago.