Glossary: Souun-ji

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Souun-ji (早雲寺)

Souun Temple is a Buddhist temple of the Rinzai School located in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture. Its principle buddha is Sakyamuni. Within the temple are the tombs of five generations of the Houjou Clan as well as a monument to the renga poet Sougi and portraits of Houjou Souun, Houjou Ujitsuna, and Houjou Ujiyasu.

The temple was built by Ujitsuna in 1521 by the last request of Houjou Souun. The army of Toyotomi Hideyoshi used it as its headquarters during the Siege of Odawara in 1590 and later burned it to the ground. It was later restored by the monk Kikukei in 1627 and given official temple status in 1648.