Hasedera, Buddhist temple in Kurayoshi, Japan

Hasedera is a Tendai Buddhist temple on a slope of Mount Utsubuki in Kurayoshi, near the site of Utsubuki Castle's Etchu enclosure. Its main hall, rebuilt in the Muromachi period, is built on stilts (kake-zukuri) to suit the steep ground. Inside, a Muromachi-period zushi cabinet holds the hidden principal image, a seated wooden Eleven-Headed Kannon 101 cm tall.

Founded in 721 by the monk Hōdō, Hasedera first stood in Nagatani village west of its present site before being moved. A 1301 bell inscription from Kunifusa Shrine in Tottori confirms the temple existed by then, when it belonged to the Zen school. It lost its lands under Toyotomi Hideyoshi and declined, then was revived by Nakamura Kazutada, lord of Yonago Castle, and switched to the Tendai school.

Hasedera is the 30th of the 33 sacred sites on the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, not a Saikoku route station. It is known as the "temple of votive tablets": painted ema from the Muromachi to Edo periods, now displayed in the kuri, were once hung on the main hall walls. Late February brings the Hase no Ujoku rite and the Hase Kannon market.

Hasedera stands on a slope of Mount Utsubuki, near the site of Utsubuki Castle's Etchū enclosure, and its main hall is built on stilts (kake-zukuri) to suit the steep ground. From Kurayoshi Station, Nihon Kōtsu or Hinomaru buses toward Nishi-Kurayoshi take about 12 minutes; get off at "Hasedera Nishiguchi" and walk 10 minutes. Alternatively, alight at "Akagawara-Shirakabetsuchikura (Meiji-machi)" and walk about 30 minutes via the path through Utsubuki Park.

The main image, a seated Eleven-Headed Kannon carved from joined cypress in the 14th century, is 101 cm tall and kept hidden from view. The temple is known as the "temple of votive tablets" because many painted ema from the Muromachi to Edo periods were hung on the main hall's walls; they are now displayed in the kuri. The 1301 bell inscription names the temple, confirming its medieval existence.