Shōtoku-ji, Buddhist temple in Yagoto, Nagoya, Japan
Shōtoku-ji is a Buddhist temple in the Yagotoyama area of Nagoya, made up of several wooden buildings arranged around open courtyards and gardens. A five-storey pagoda stands on the grounds and is one of the most visible structures when walking through the site.
The temple was founded in 1688 by the Buddhist priest Tenzui Ensho, and in the decades that followed it received support from the Tokugawa clan, the ruling family of the Edo period. That patronage helped establish the temple as a place of some standing in the region.
This temple is one of the stations on the Owari Thirty-three Kannon pilgrimage route, a circuit followed by local devotees for generations. Pilgrims walk from temple to temple along this route, and visitors today can join or simply observe that same quiet movement through the grounds.
The temple is within walking distance of Yagoto Station and can be visited throughout the year. If you want to take part in a tea ceremony or sutra transcription session, it is worth booking in advance before your visit.
The temple keeps a very large wooden drum said to be the biggest of its kind in Japan, carved from a single camphor tree. Local tradition holds that touching it draws out negative energy, and many visitors do exactly that when they pass by.
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