The 61st temple of the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage, enshrining Dainichi Nyorai in Saijo City. The precincts feature a striking modern concrete cathedral seating around 500 worshippers, giving this temple a uniquely distinctive appearance among the Shikoku sacred sites. According to tradition, Kobo Daishi performed rites for safe childbirth and child-rearing here, and the temple draws many expecta…

Koonji Temple is traditionally said to have been founded around 596 CE, attributed to Prince Shotoku in the early seventh century. According to temple tradition, a hermitage was first established here enshrining Yakushi Nyorai (the Medicine Buddha). In the early Heian period, the monk Kukai (Kobo Da…