Fukuzenji Temple (Taichoro)

Fukuzenji is a Shingon temple at Tomonoura, on the coast of Fukuyama. Its guest hall, the Taichoro, was built around 1690 and looks out across the Seto Inland Sea. The temple grounds are a National Historic Site for their part in the Korean embassies to Japan.

Through the Edo period the Taichoro served as the guesthouse for the Chosen Tsushinshi, the diplomatic missions sent from Korea to Japan. It became a meeting place as well, where the envoys spent time with Japanese scholars of Chinese learning and with calligraphers.

In 1711 one of them, Yi Bang-eon, praised the view from the hall as "nitto daiichi keisho", the finest scenery in Japan. The temple still holds documents and calligraphy from these exchanges.

The hall saw one further piece of history. After the Iroha Maru, a ship chartered by Sakamoto Ryoma, sank in a collision in 1867, it was here that Ryoma and his Kaientai company negotiated compensation with the Kishu domain.

From the matted floor of the hall the sea opens out, with the islands of Sensuijima and Bentenjima lying close offshore. It is among the best known views of the Inland Sea, and has been used for the opening titles of the animated series Sazae-san and on record sleeves.