Sôjiji, Koshakudai

Too luxurious though the building may seem, it is a Kuri or priests' living quarters constructed in 1920. The term Koshaku is a translation of Sanskrit "Gandha-sugandhaIn" meaning fragrance. It is said that at the time the remains of Sakyamuni was cremated, fragrant trees were burnt. Zen temples often use the term Koshaku as living quarters. In the center recess, a wooden statue of Daikokuten, or Mahakala in Skt., the largest of its kind, is enshrined. (Kuri in Zen temples usually enshrines a statue of Idaten or Skanda in Skt.). Daikokuten is one of Shichifukujin or Seven Deities of Good Fortune and it is the God of Wealth and the God of Five Cereals. The statue usually wears a hood and holds a big bag filled with treasures on his left shoulder. In his right hand, he holds a luck mallet, often astride two straw-wrapped rice bales.