Honganji hiroshima betsu-in, Buddhist temple in Naka-ku, Hiroshima, Japan

Honganji Hiroshima Betsu-in is a Buddhist temple in Hiroshima featuring traditional Japanese architecture with a main hall dedicated to the founder Shinran. The structure embodies Jodo-Shin Buddhist principles through its layout and design.

The temple traces its origin to 1459, when the Aki-Takeda clan founded Butsugo-ji at the foot of Mount Takeda. It became a Jodo Shinshu temple in 1496 under the second abbot, Ensei, and was moved to the present Tera-machi site in 1609 by Fukushima Masanori. The main hall was destroyed by the atomic bomb in 1945 and rebuilt in 1964.

The temple serves as an active center of Jodo-Shin Buddhist practice where visitors can observe monks conducting ceremonies honoring the deceased for local families. These rituals remain an important part of spiritual life for many in the community.

The temple is located on Tera-machi Street and can be reached from Yokogawa Station with about an 8-minute walk. Visitors should be aware that the grounds may be closed at times for private ceremonies.

The temple grounds sit less than a kilometre from the hypocenter of the 6 August 1945 atomic bomb, and the complex was reduced to ruins. The main hall was rebuilt only in October 1964, and a large-scale restoration centred on it followed in 1994.