Raikyū-ji Temple

is a Buddhist temple located in the Raikyūcho neighborhood of the city of Takahashi, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The temple's full name is . It belongs to the Eigen-ji branch of Rinzai school of Japanese Buddhism, and its honzon is a statue of Kannon Bosatsu. It is known for its Japanese garden, which was designated a NationalPlace of Scenic Beauty in 1974, with the area under protection expanded in 2009 to include the Main Hall and Shoin of the temple.

==History== The early history and original name of the temple are unknown. It was revived in 1339 when Ashikaga Takauji designated it as the official Ankoku-ji temple dedicated to the memory of the dead of the Genkō War of 1331-3 for Bitchū Province. The priest who came to restore the temple and to convert it to a Zen establishment was , from Hangzhou in Yuan China. During the Eishō era (1504-1521), the lord of Bitchū Matsuyama Castle, UenoYorihisa, took the tonsure at this temple, and after his death it was renamed for him, using the kanbun reading of the kanji "頼久", to become Raikyū-ji. His grave is at the temple. The temple also has the graves of three generations of the Bitchū Mimura clan] Mimura Iechika, who was assassinated by Ukita Naoie in 1566, his son Mimura Motochika, who committed seppuku after his defeat by the Mōri-Ukita coalition in 1575, and his son Shobōshi-maru, who was put to death by Kobayakawa Takakage. The temple was also destroyed during this war in 1575. Although rebuilt, it was completely destroyed again by fire in 1839, during which time most of its records were lost.