Matsuno-o-dera is the twenty-ninth temple of the Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, a Shingon Daigo temple set on the slopes of Mt. Aoba (693 m) overlooking Wakasa Bay in Maizuru, Kyoto. Tradition holds that in 708 the Tang Chinese monk Iko Shonin perceived that the twin peaks of Mt. Aoba resembled the sacred Maer Shan (Horse-Ear Mountain) of central China, and built a hermitage here, enshrining an ima…

According to tradition, in the Keiun era (704-708) the Tang Chinese monk Iko Shonin perceived that the twin peaks of Mt. Aoba resembled the sacred Maer Shan (Horse-Ear Mountain) of central China, and in 708 he built a hermitage here and enshrined an image of Bato Kannon (Horse-Headed Kannon). In 111…