Gyufukuji Temple (read "Gofukuji"), an ancient Tendai temple in Matsumoto. A sacred site long visited by many worshippers as a Kannon of evil-warding, with Bato Kannon (Horse-Headed Kannon) as the principal deity. Having a history of receiving devotion from farmers and merchants as a guardian deity of oxen and horses, it flourished as one of the important bases of Tendai Buddhism in Shinano founde…

The founding of Gyufukuji Temple is traditionally attributed to the late Nara or early Heian period, with deep ties to the spread of Tendai Buddhism — founded by Saicho — into Shinano Province. The temple's name is said to derive from a legend of an ox that lay down here, and it long gathered devoti…