Meguro Fudoson is a popular name for Ryusenji Temple, an old temple of the Tendai sect, located in Shimo-meguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo. It is said that the town name “Meguro (black eyes)” originates in the principal image of this temple, the statue of Fudo Myoo with black eyes. The temple is said to have been established in 808 by the priest Jikaku Daishi Ennin, who placed the statue of Fudo Myoo at this place on his way from Shimotsuke province (present-day Tochigi Pref.) to Kyoto. In the precinct flows down the Tokko Waterfall, which sprang out of the spot where Jikaku Daishi threw his tokko (a tool for priests) to decide the location of the temple. The temple name “Ryusen (waterfall and spring)” is said to be originated in this episode. It is believed that one can be cured of a disease if he stands under the waterfall. In the Bunka-Bunsei era (1804-1829) of the Edo period, the temple was a popular place to get “Tomi-kuji (fortune lotto).”
Ryusenji Temple is the oldest Fudo temple in Japan and counted as one of Japan’s three largest Fudo temples, the 18th temple of Kanto 36 Fudo Pilgrimage Temples, one of Edo Goshiki Fudo (Five Different-colored Fudo statues in Edo) to guard Edo Castle. It also enshrines Ebisu (god of fishers and merchants) as one of Yama-no-te Shichifukujin Temples (Seven Gods of Fortune in Yama-no-te area).