Honkō-ji

Honkō-ji is a Buddhist temple in Ōmachi featuring wooden carvings and statues of guardian spirits and Buddhist deities, with a central sculpture of Kannon, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. The temple contains multiple halls and a terraced layout that organizes the sacred spaces throughout its grounds.

The temple was founded in 1336 by Buddhist teacher Tenmoku, representing an important development in Japanese Buddhist architecture of that period. This foundation occurred during a time of significant religious transformation across Japan.

The temple houses a collection of nationally designated cultural treasures that visitors can observe, showcasing traditional Buddhist artistic forms and devotional practices.

The temple welcomes visitors year-round without admission fees and is accessible to those passing through the area. The terraced hillside graveyard provides natural walking paths and vantage points for viewing the surroundings.

The temple's terraced graveyard overlooks the surrounding landscape and distant ocean, dotted with small memorials and traditional stone carvings. This setting reveals how burial grounds in Japanese culture are integrated with natural surroundings.

Location: Ōmachi

Inception: 1336

Founders: Tenmoku

GPS coordinates: 35.31287,139.55399

Latest update: December 14, 2025 13:01