Ryūtō-ji, Buddhist temple in Yuza, Japan

Ryūtō-ji is a Shingon Chizan school temple at the foot of Mount Chōkai in the Uwadera area of Warabigaoka, Yuza. Its main hall was rebuilt in 1841, and the temple keeps the eleven-headed Kannon statue that was the original deity of the shrine next door. Seventeen former sub-temples remain, and their layout recalls the temple lodgings of the Warabigaoka mountain monks.

Ryūtō-ji was the head temple (gakutō-ji) of the 33-branch Shugendō community of Warabikao, the largest on Mount Chōkai. Records name the 33 branches in the 1611 Chōkai land survey, and a 1612 donation deed from Mogami Yoshiaki survives. The temple was called Shōgakuzan Kannon-ji until it took the name Ryūtō-ji after 1655, and in 1892 it joined the Chizan branch of Shingi Shingon.

The temple keeps the Eleven-Faced Kannon, the principal image of the former Ichinōji shrine, moved here after the separation of Shinto and Buddhism. Each 3 May the Ōgohei festival at the Ōdō hall includes a gohei-raising and a dance performed by young people, a remnant of the mountain-entry rites of the Dewa Sanzan ascetics.

The temple is located in Yuza and can be reached by contacting +81 234-72-2553 for current opening hours and directions. It is wise to call ahead since access may be restricted during certain times or special occasions.

The main hall was rebuilt in 1841, according to its ridge plaque. The eleven-faced Kannon kept here was the original deity of Ichinōji, one of the worship points of the former Shugendō complex, and its statue is now enshrined at this temple next to the shrine.