Hogon Temple

"There is a autumn breeze
a short way away
From the amusement district" (Shiki)

In 6th Oct. 1895(Meiji 28), Shiki went to Dogo-spa to compose Haiku with Soseki, lived together, because it was very fine day and the school was closed on Sunday. After taking bath, he went through Matsugae-cho, a red-light district, and said in Haiku poetry "Sansaku-shu", "We visited Hoganji-temple. It has been heard Saint Impen was born at this sacred place and he is the first hero here."
Prefacing "Sitting down at the main gate of the Buddhist temple", this Haiku appeared in "Sansaku-shu". He said in the poetry too, on their way home, both of them went to the theater at Ookaido(Shinei-za) and saw the play-acting of "teniha farce".
To be connected to this day, this monument was built by Mr.Kaneichi Nitta in memory of the 80th anniversary of it, in 6th Oct. 1974(Showa 49). The characters on the monument is the enlarged characters of Shiki's own handwriting in the Haiku poetry "Kanzan Rakuboku".
In addition to this monument, Mokuzen's Haiku monument lies within the precinct of the same temple.