Taisan-ji Temple, Buddhist temple and National Treasure in Matsuyama, Japan

Taisan-ji is a Shingon temple in Matsuyama whose main hall, rebuilt in 1305 by the Kono clan, is a National Treasure. The hall has a broad hip-and-gable roof of grey tiles, a dark bracket system across the facade, and a wide stone stairway with about five steps. Two stone lanterns with gilt finials flank the steps.

Legend credits a wealthy merchant from Bungo Province with founding the temple in 586, after Jūichimen Kannon calmed a storm off Takahama and he built a hall in one night. In 739, under Emperor Shōmu, Gyōki installed the eleven-faced Kannon, and Empress Kōken is said to have added a second image and laid out the seven-hall complex in 749. The present Hondō, the third on the site, was rebuilt in 1305 by the Kōno, the Iyo shugo, and later enjoyed the patronage of the Katō lords of Matsuyama.

Pilgrims at Taisan-ji, station 52 of the Shikoku 88, leave a printed nōkyō seal in their books at the office near the main hall. The temple's goeika verse, sung while climbing, says that though sweat comes on the ascent to Taisan, thoughts of the next life make the effort nothing. A tea house, Kōtsuan, holds a tea gathering on the 17th of each month.

The grounds are entered through four gates, and the first gate to the main hall is 0.8 km uphill. Buses stop at the large car park by the Niōmon, which holds 50 cars and 5 large vehicles; a smaller lot below the office takes 10 cars. All parking is free, and the walking route from Iyo-Wake Station is 2.5 km.

The temple's first gate, rebuilt in 1955, is a simple kōryōmon with a gabled roof, and the main hall lies 0.8 km from it. The Niōmon gate, rebuilt in 1305, is an Important Cultural Property and holds two wooden Niō statues from the late Heian period, about 270 cm tall.