| Shōkaku-ji (正覚寺) is a Rinzai temple in Jōnan-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. Its honorary sangō prefix is Higashiaburayama (東油山). It is also known as Aburayama Kannon (油山観音). Shōkaku-ji was founded during the Nara period by Seiga, a priest who came from India. He established a Buddhist hermitage and discovered white camellias on the mountain. He harvested them and created a pair of Bodhisattva Kannon statues, enshrining one in this temple. It is believed that the first process of extracting kerosene in Japan was by squeezing oil from camellia seeds. Both the name of Mount Abura and the temple have origins related to this process. Originally, it was named Senpuku-ji (泉福寺). |
