A Jodo-sect temple in Osaka's Tennoji, originating from a hermitage built by Honen in 1185. Since 1887 the temple has cast a unique Amida statue — the Okotsu-butsu — from the bones of the deceased, remolded every ten years from over 1.5 million sets of remains. This practice embodies the belief that the departed become Buddhas protecting the living. Adjacent to Shitennoji.

Began in 1185 when the monk Honen built a hermitage in front of the west gate of Shitennoji. The main encampment of Tokugawa Ieyasu was placed here during both the Winter and Summer Sieges of Osaka. The tradition of casting an Amida statue from the bones of the deceased — the Okotsu-butsu — began in…