Zenpuku-ji is a beautiful Zen temple in Uwa, Seiyo, better known by its alias Yamada Yakushi. Its principal image is Yakushi Nyorai, Buddha of healing.

In the Nara period, the local lord, Miyoshi Sadaharu asked the monk Gyōki to found a temple for curing sickness. Before the start of construction, Gyōki practised austerities in a nearby cave while praying that the people would be relieved from illness. In the Heian period, Emperor Shirakawa became a major patron, and during the Edo period, it became the temple of the Date clan of Uwajima.

In the summer of 1963, a huge rock suddenly fell down from the mountain behind during heavy rain and crushed the Daishi Hall. Miraculously, the statue of Kōbō Daishi was found nearby, unharmed. The impressively big rock is still there, with an impressive split in it. It’s covered with a lattice of vines.

The two-storey main gate and bell tower, the steep and weathered stone steps, and the main hall with its cypress bark roof, are all lovely to behold, standing in quiet serenity below the mountain.