Bandai-ji, Buddhist temple on cliff in Fukuyama, Japan.

Bandai-ji is a Buddhist temple in Fukuyama, Japan, built directly into the face of a cliff above the Seto Inland Sea. The Kannon Hall sits at the top of the site, facing the water and the islands beyond, and serves as the main place of worship.

According to temple tradition, the origin dates to 985, when Emperor Kazan enshrined an eleven-headed Kannon stone statue and prayed for safe voyages; the site later fell into ruin. In 1570 the fisherman's statue recovered from the sea was installed on the Abuto rock, and Mōri Terumoto built the Kannon Hall with the monk Kenchi as founder. The hall was rebuilt and repaired in 1667 under the Fukuyama domain, giving the precinct its present form.

Bandai-ji is one stop on the Setouchi 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, a route of sacred sites around the Seto Inland Sea where people pray for safe voyages and children's health. Pilgrims today still walk this circuit, leaving offerings and prayer tablets at the Kannon Hall just as those before them did.

Getting here from Fukuyama Station requires a trip by public transport followed by a walk uphill to reach the clifftop. The path to the Kannon Hall is steep, so solid footwear and a steady pace make the climb much easier.

The temple's founding is dated to 985, when Emperor Kazan is said to have enshrined an eleven-headed Kannon stone statue and prayed for safe voyages. The statue later became the object fishermen hauled up three times in their nets, and the temple honours it still.