- Culture
- Nara
Kinpusen-ji Temple
World Heritage temple established by the founder of Shugendo in the mountains of Yoshino
Kinpusen-ji Temple is the symbol of Mount Yoshino, a famous cherry blossom viewing spot of Nara Prefecture. The Main Hall and Niomon Gate on the temple grounds are exceptional wooden architectures registered as part of the World Heritage site. Mount Yoshino and its surrounding mountains in southern Nara Prefecture were once called Kinpusen (mountain of golden peaks) and considered a sacred area since ancient times. En no Gyoja, the founder of the mountain worship religion Shugendo, trained in these mountains in the latter half of the 7th century and established Kinpusen-ji Temple.
Zaodo Main Hall (national treasure)
The Main Hall of Kinpusen-ji Temple houses three 7-meter-tall statues of Zao Gongen, the temple's hidden object of worship, as well as many other sacred statues. The highly acclaimed architecture has an air of elegance in its dignified stature: a multi-tiered hip-and-gable, cypress bark thatched roof building that is 34 meters tall and 36 meters around. Zaodo is said to have been constructed by En no Gyoja during the Hakuho period (7th century), and is also believed to have been renovated by the Buddhist priest Gyoki during the Nara Period (646-794). Since then it was burned down and reconstructed several times, and the current building was completed around 1592.
Lotus Offering and Frog Hopping Festival
One of the three main annual events of Kinpusen-ji Temple, the Lotus Offering and Frog Hopping Festival is a Buddhist ritual that involves offering to Zao Gongen the pure lotus flowers of Benten Pond in Okuda, Yamato-Takada City in Nara Prefecture, where En no Gyoja is said to have been given his first bath. Every year on July 7, lotus flowers of Benten Pond are brought to Zaodo Hall and offered to the objects of worship. At the same time, the Frog Hopping event is held on the temple grounds, in which a giant green frog's drumming float parades through the town, and then is transformed back to human in front of Zaodo Hall.
Location
| Name | Kinpusen-ji Temple |
|---|---|
| Website | https://www.kinpusen.or.jp/sign/en.html |
| Address | 2498 Yoshinoyama, Yoshino-cho, Yoshino-gun, Nara |
| Access | From Osaka: Approximately 75 minutes on the express train from Kintetsu Abenobashi Station. From JR Tennoji Station, change trains at Oji/Yoshinoguchi Station (approximately 110 minutes). From Kyoto: From Kintetsu Kyoto Station, change to the express train at Kashiharajingu-mae Station (approximately 105 minutes). From Nara: From Kintetsu Nara Station, change to the express train at Yamato-Saidaiji/Kashiharajingu-mae Station (approximately 85 minutes). From Nagoya: From Kintetsu Nagoya Station, change to the express train at Yagi/Kashiharajingu-mae Station (approximately 2 hours 55 minutes). From Koyasan/Wakayama: From Koyasan, change trains at JR Hashimoto/Yoshinoguchi Station (approximately 110 minutes). From JR Wakayama Station, change trains at Yoshinoguchi Station (approximately 2 hours 20 minutes). |
| Business Hours | 8:30 to 16:00 |
| Inquiries | TEL: 0746-32-8371 |
| Admission | Zaodo Main Hall admission fee (Fee changes during public opening period). Adults: 800 yen Group: 720 yen Persons with disabilities: 400 yen |