Sekiganji, Tamba, Buddhist temple in Tamba, Japan

Sekiganji is a Shingon temple of the Koyasan branch at Iwaya, Yamanancho, in Tamba, Hyogo Prefecture, with the mountain name Iwayasan and Vaisravana as its principal image. Its main hall, rebuilt in 1778, stands below the Nio gate, whose two Kongo Rikishi statues were carved in 1242 by Higo Betto Jokei. About 800 m up the mountain is the Oku-no-in, a cave hall in a rock niche that gives the temple its name.

According to temple tradition, Prince Shotoku founded Sekiganji in 587 after finding the Bishamonten statue he had carved inside a stone niche (gan) on the mountain. The temple flourished from the Kamakura through the Muromachi periods. In 1579 Akira Mitsuhide's Tamba campaign burned the whole complex, leaving only the mountain gate; the main hall was rebuilt at its present site in 1778.

The temple belongs to the Kōyasan Shingon school, not Tendai, and is dedicated to Bishamonten. Prince Shōtoku is said to have carved the Bishamonten image and placed it in a stone niche (gan) on the mountain, which gave the temple its name. Near the main hall stands the Shōbi Shrine, where Benzaiten was once worshipped and is still honoured locally with banners.

Sekiganji stands in the Iwaya district of Yamanancho, Tamba, reached by road rather than rail. The main hall sits at the foot of the slope; the Oku-no-in, the cave where the temple began, is about 800 m uphill, roughly 20 minutes on foot. From there a trail continues past the ruins of Ashikaga Yoshiakira's residence to Mt. Atama (439 m) and on to Mt. Ishido (548.8 m).

The temple name comes from the stone niche (gan) on the mountainside about 800 m above the main hall, where Prince Shotoku is said to have found the Bishamonten statue he had carved. The okunoin there, reached on foot in about 20 minutes, stands on a terrace with a bell tower and a row of stone lanterns.