The Teakettle of Zenpukuji Temple

Japanese

One day Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-98) visited a Zen temple near Mt. Tenjin called Ranjaku-in Amida-do where he saw the large head of the chief priest. Hideyoshi thought that the head of the chief priest resembled a large boar and remarked to the priest. "You have a strange head; let's call for Rikyu." He called for Sen-no-Rikyu, the most famous master of the tea ceremony, and ordered him to have a teakettle made in the shape of the chief priest's head. Rikyu asked the great craftsman Yojiro to make the kettle. Upon its completion, the teakettle was named "bullnecked kettle." However, people called it "Amida-do," and this is how Amida-do teakettle got its start for use in tea ceremony.

The Amida-do kettle made by Yojiro continues to be handed down at Arima Onsen's Zenpukiji, a temple famous for its weeping cherry trees.

Folklores in Arima Index
No. 1 Tale : Two Gods and Three Crows of Arima
No. 2 Tale : Saint Gyoki and Hot Springs of Arima
No. 3 Tale : Saint Ninsai and the Spider Guide
No. 4 Tale : Totoya-michi and the Mountain Dog's Repayment
No. 5 Tale : Spider Waterfall
No. 6 Tale : Valley of Hell (Bird Hell and Insect Hell)
No. 7 Tale : Mt. Kumuchi and Cedar Valley
No. 8 Tale : Uwanari-yu (Jealousy Bath)
No. 9 Tale : Tamoto-ishi (Tamato Stone)
No. 10 Tale : Negai-zaka (Slope of Wish)
No. 11 Tale : The Teakettle of Zenpukuji Temple
No. 12 Tale : Kobu-zaka (Lump Slope)
No. 13 Tale : Otoku-san
No. 14 Tale : Funasaka and Saint Gyoki
No. 15 Tale : Fire Protecting Jizo of Konomoto
No. 16 Tale : Origin of Motoyu "Ryuusenkaku"

Address:
"Motoyu Ryuusenkaku - Arima Onsen"
1663, Utsugidani, Arima-cho, Kita-ku,
Kobe City, Hyogo, 651-1401 Japan
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E-mail address: ryuusen@skyblue.ocn.ne.jp

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Motoyu Ryuusenkaku