Ryuukou-ji, Buddhist temple in Uwajima, Japan
Ryuukou-ji is a Buddhist temple in Uwajima that serves as stop 41 on the Shikoku pilgrimage route, with several religious buildings spread across a terraced hillside. The grounds hold a main hall, a founder's hall, and a separate Inari shrine at the top of a stairway marked by a red gate.
The temple was founded in the 9th century by the monk Kukai, who installed a statue of Inari Myojin alongside a multi-faced statue he carved for the site. That early combination of Buddhist and Shinto elements has defined the character of the place ever since.
The temple serves as stop 41 on the Shikoku pilgrimage route and shows how Buddhist and Shinto practices exist together here. You can see this blend in the different shrines and prayer areas scattered across the grounds.
The temple is in the northeastern part of Uwajima's Mima district and is easy to explore on foot, though the path to the Inari shrine requires climbing a flight of stairs. Visitors who want to see all parts of the grounds should allow enough time to move between the different halls at a relaxed pace.
Inside the main hall there is a small black stone known as the dragon's eye, regarded as a sacred object since the temple's earliest days. Many visitors walk past it without noticing, yet it is considered one of the most spiritually significant objects on the site.
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