The 12th temple on the Shikoku Pilgrimage of Eighty-Eight Temples, a difficult sacred site standing deep in the mountains at an elevation of 938 meters. Because of the steepness of the mountain path, it has long been feared as the first of the so-called "pilgrim-toppling" difficult stages. This ancient temple of the Shingon Daikakuji branch is said to have been founded when Kobo Daishi, in 815 (Ko…

Shozanji Temple is said to have been founded in 815 by the Buddhist monk Kukai (Kobo Daishi). According to tradition, Kukai subdued a great fire-breathing serpent that had long tormented the local people, sealed its spirit, and enshrined a statue of Kokuzo Bosatsu (Akasagarbha Bodhisattva) that he c…