Meiseki-ji Temple, Buddhist temple in Seiyo, Japan

Meiseki-ji is a Buddhist temple of the Tendai school in Seiyo, on the island of Shikoku, and serves as the 43rd stop on the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage. The complex is made up of several traditional wooden buildings and halls dedicated to Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara, set among old trees.

Founded in the 6th century by the priest Shōchō-shōnin under Emperor Kinmei's decree, the temple enshrined a Thousand-Armed Kannon statue brought from Tang China. In 734 the ascetic Jugen invited the Kumano Twelve Shrine deities and established twelve monastic quarters. Minamoto no Yoritomo built an Amida Hall in 1194 for Ike no Zenni and changed the mountain name to Genkōzan. After the Saionji clan fell in 1578, the Ue-no-bō lineage kept the temple alive.

Meiseki-ji sits on the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage route, and many visitors arrive dressed in the traditional white pilgrim coat and sedge hat. Inside the halls, incense burns and sutras are chanted, giving the place an active religious life that is easy to observe.

The temple is in a rural part of Seiyo and is most easily reached by bus or car from nearby towns. The grounds include several separate buildings, so wear comfortable shoes for walking between them.

The temple's original name was Ageishi-ji, "Raised Stone Temple," from a legend that Kannon, disguised as a maiden, carried a huge boulder and dropped it at dawn; the boulder is worshipped as Hakuō Gongen about 300 m west of the gate. The reading Meiseki-ji later replaced it.