A shrine in Katsuyama City, famous as the 'carpet of moss.' The beautiful green moss blanketing the entire precincts creates a fantastical scene like another world, drawing many photography enthusiasts and tourists. Originally the Heisenji temple complex that flourished as the head temple of Hakusan worship, it became a shrine after the Meiji separation of Buddhism and Shinto. At its peak it repor…

The site is said to originate from when Master Taicho opened Mt. Hakusan in 717 and established a hermitage here. In the medieval period it flourished as the largest religious city in Echizen Province under the protection of the Asakura clan, but the entire complex was destroyed by the Ikko-ikki in …