The oldest great temple in Dazaifu, vowed around 680 by Emperor Tenji to pray for the repose of his mother, Empress Saimei. Its temple bell — said to have been cast from the same mold as the bell at Todaiji in Nara — is designated a National Treasure as one of Japan's oldest. Once the foremost official temple in Kyushu and a center of study for Hosso, Kegon, and Ritsu sects, today only the foundat…

Around 680, Emperor Tenji vowed to establish this temple to pray for the repose of his mother, Empress Saimei, who died in 661 during a military campaign to aid the Baekje kingdom. Construction was prolonged, and the temple is believed to have been completed in the early 8th century. During the Nara…