Kofuku-ji Temple, Nagasaki

Built at the hilly district of Teramachi, Kofuku-ji is Japan's very first Obaku Zen Buddhist temple. During the Ming Dynasty, merchants came to Nagasaki to trade. Soon they built this temple to worship and to pray for the safety of their journey from China - Japan - China.

The ticketing booth was also painted in red to blend in with this temple. The genial old men then handed us some brochures with information in chinese.....then we had to inform no chinese...then he gave us in korean....no we are not korean....before we could elaborate, he gave us brochures in german then spanish....then we gave up.

"ENGLISH kudasai!!!!"

the temple is also known as Nanking Temple and is now the cultural asset of Nagasaki. There are many other chinese temples along this road. But since this is the first one, we had to visit it hehehehehehe.

It looked so chinese!!!! everything was constructed chinese style including the carvings, statues and landscaping!!!! u no longer see any japanese zen garden.

worshipping with bamboos, pomelos and fruits from the lemon family. The weird looking lemon is called Buddha's hand. Very citrusy and less acid compared to normal lemon. I had my first taste of it in Vienna. *read about it here*

the grave yard was at the back of the temple. 
I think the chinese were great explorers and merchants, to have presence everywhere around the world. Think of Zheng He :))))

Prollie he and his fleets were the one who charted the first world map. U think so? It's still a mystery. But one thing for sure, u can find Chinatown anywhere everywhere around planet Earth. And after this serene visit to Kofuku-ji temple, we headed to Chinatown of Nagasaki for the famous Champon. Which oh well, is a must eat whenever u are in the city of Nagasaki.

Till the next post folks :))))