Kappa-dera (かっぱ寺), also known as Sōgen Temple (曹源寺, "Sōgen-ji") is a Zen Buddhist temple in the Kappabashi area of Tokyo and is named after the kappa, a Japanese folklore figure. The temple was founded as a Sōtō Zen temple first built in the Marunouchi area of Tokyo in 1588. It changed location several times, moving to Yushima Tenman-gū because of the Edo Castle expansion in 1591. Finally in 1657 the Great fire of Meireki burned down most of the temple and it was moved to the current area in Matsugaya. Historically, this area near Asakusa was prone to frequent flooding due to its proximity to the Sumida River, which would overflow its banks from Edo Bay. In the 1800s, a local umbrella and raincoat merchant named Kihachi Kappaya started an effort to create a system to reduce the amount of destructive flooding in the area. He invested his own capital to create embankments and a pedestrian bridge. More information...
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