Eiheiji (永平寺町, Eiheiji-chō) is a town located in Yoshida District, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 March 2018, the town had an estimated population of 18,746 in 6,262 households and the population density of 200 persons per km. The total area of the town was 94.43 square kilometres (36.46 sq mi). The town is named for the famous temple of Eihei-ji.

Eiheiji is located in Yoshida District in northern Fukui Prefecture, in the river valley of the Kuzuryū River.

• Fukui Prefecture
  • Awara
  • Fukui
  • Katsuyama

Eiheiji has a Humid climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm, wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Eiheiji is 14.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2459 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 26.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around 2.6 °C.

Per Japanese census data, the population of Eiheiji has remained relatively steady over the past 50 years.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1970	20,244	—
1980	19,667	−2.9%
1990	19,387	−1.4%
2000	21,182	+9.3%
2010	20,647	−2.5%
2020	18,965	−8.1%

Eiheiji is part of ancient Echizen Province, and has been populated since the Japanese Paleolithic period. Numerous Kofun period remains have been found in the area, which was part of a large shōen in the Heian period. During the Kamakura period, in 1244, the monk Dōgen established the Sōtō Zen monastery of Eihei-ji, and the present town developed as a monzen-machi town attached to the temple. During the Edo period, the area was part of the holdings of Fukui Domain. Following the Meiji restoration, it was organised into part of Yoshida District in Fukui Prefecture. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889, the villages of Shihidani, Shimoshihi and Jōhō-ji were established. These villages were merged to form the village of Shihi on March 1, 1954. On September 1, 1962 Shihi was raised to town status, and was renamed Eiheiji.

On February 13, 2006 the town of Matsuoka and the village of Kamishihi, both from Yoshida District, were merged into the town of Eiheiji.

Eiheiji's economy is heavily reliant on the flow of tourists and pilgrims to the Eihei-ji temple, which serves as a sizable seminary for the Soto Zen faith.

Aoyama Harp, the only harp manufacturer in Japan, is located in Eiheiji.

Eiheiji has seven public elementary schools and three middle schools operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school. Fukui Prefectural University has a campus at Eiheiji, and the medical school of the University of Fukui is also located in the town.

• Echizen Railway Katsuyama Eiheiji Line
  • Kannonmachi - Matsuoka - Shiizakai - Eiheijiguchi - Shimoshii - Kōmyōji - Domeki - Echizen-Nonaka - Sannō - Echizen-Takehara - Kobunato

• Chubu-Jukan Expressway
• National Route 364
• National Route 416

• Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, China, friendship city to former Matsuoka Town since August 1997

• Eihei-ji, head temple and seminary of the Sōtō Zen sect
• Matsuoka Kofun Cluster, National Historic Site

• Media related to Eiheiji, Fukui at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website (in Japanese)