Yashima-ji Temple, Buddhist temple on Mount Yashima, Takamatsu, Japan

Yashima-ji is a Shingon temple on the southern summit of Yashima, a lava plateau northeast of Takamatsu. Its 5x5-bay irimoya-zukuri Hondō, built in 1618 using timbers from a Kamakura-period predecessor, has a gray-tiled hip-and-gable roof, a dark wooden facade with round pillars, and carved brackets under the eaves. The Hondō is an Important Cultural Property.

Founded in 754 by the Chinese monk Ganjin, who stopped here en route to Nara, Yashima-ji was later moved from the north peak to the south peak by Kūkai in 815 at Emperor Saga's request. In the 10th century Myōtatsu installed the eleven-headed Kannon now revered as the main image. The temple was a branch of Saidai-ji in Nara by 1391 and came under Takamatsu domain protection from 1601.

Pilgrims on the Shikoku 88 temple circuit are the 84th stop here, and walking pilgrims enter through the Niō Gate and the Shiten Gate to reach the Hondō, with the stamp office to its right. The temple's go-eika verse names Yashima's shrine and warriors praying for courage. Near the Shiten Gate stands a stone inscribed with Bashō's verse on summer grass and the dreams of warriors.

The shuttle bus to the summit leaves from JR Yashima Station and Kotoden Yashima Station once an hour; from the summit stop it is about 200 m to the East Gate, roughly two minutes from the car park. The Yashima Skyway is open from 6:30 to 22:00 and is free, though summit parking for a standard car is charged, with the first 20 minutes free. Walking pilgrims climb about 30 minutes on a maintained path from the Jōjū-in hall, passing Kaji-sui spring, the Kuwa-zu pear and Tatami-ishi rock.

The grounds feature a shrine dedicated to Tazaburo, a tanuki badger who appears in local legends as a leader of Shikoku badgers and is honored in worship. This unusual religious focus reveals how animal deities remain part of temple worship practices in Japan.