Shitennoji Temple

What Shitennoji Temple Is

Shitennoji Temple is a Buddhist temple in Tennoji Ward, Osaka City, founded in 593 by Prince Shotoku according to temple tradition, rebuilt in its present central form by 1963, and today the head temple of the Wa school of Japanese Buddhism. The Nihon Shoki records that during the conflict between the Mononobe and Soga clans the prince carved images of the Four Heavenly Kings and vowed to build a temple for them if he prevailed. The site chosen was the western edge of the Uemachi plateau, a place then known as Arahaka.

The precinct covers roughly 110,000 square metres. Its core follows a plan named after the temple itself: the Middle Gate, the five-story pagoda, the Golden Hall and the Lecture Hall stand in a single north-south line, wrapped by a covered corridor. The arrangement descends from Chinese and Korean temple planning of the sixth and seventh centuries, and excavation has shown that the buildings still occupy almost exactly their original footprints.

For centuries Shitennoji Temple belonged to the Tendai school. It became independent in 1946 and took the name Wa in 1949, borrowing the word from the opening article of Prince Shotoku's Seventeen-Article Constitution, which urges that harmony be valued. The principal image is the Guze Kannon enshrined in the Golden Hall.

A Precinct Rebuilt Again and Again

Almost nothing at Shitennoji Temple is as old as the temple itself. The Muroto typhoon of 21 September 1934 toppled the pagoda, tilted the Golden Hall and wrecked the Middle Gate. The pagoda went back up in 1940, only for the Osaka air raids of 1945 to burn nearly the whole precinct. A handful of buildings on the north side survived, among them the Rokujido, the Gochikoin and the abbot's quarters.

Reconstruction after the war followed one rule: keep the ancient plan and get as close as the evidence allowed to the temple of Prince Shotoku's day. The pagoda was finished in 1959, the Golden Hall in 1961, and the Lecture Hall, Middle Gate and corridor in 1963. Fire regulations meant the frames had to be steel-reinforced concrete, but the proportions and the carpentry details were worked out from what the excavations had found. The inner sanctuary of the Shoryoin, the Edo and the sutra hall followed in 1979.

Walking the Precinct

Pilgrims have long entered from the west, through the stone torii and the Gokuraku Gate, which brings you out at the western face of the central precinct. Admission to the central precinct is taken at the Nishijumon, a gate set into the corridor. Once inside, the four buildings line up from south to north, so walking that line in order is the quickest way to understand how an ancient Japanese temple was organised.

Outside the corridor stand the Rokujido to the north, the Taishiden to the east, and the Amida Hall and ossuary in the southwest corner. The abbot's compound occupies the northeast of the grounds, where a stroll garden called the Garden of the Pure Land is open for a separate fee. The treasure house sits on the north side and opens only during announced exhibition periods.

Allow about 40 minutes for the central precinct and treasure house together, and about 20 minutes for the garden.

Designated and Registered Buildings

Two of the temple's building groups carry the status of Important Cultural Property. The first, listed simply as Shitennoji, covers six structures rebuilt in the Genna era between 1615 and 1623: the Rokujido, the Gansan Daishido, the abbot's quarters, the Gochikoin, the stone stage and the west service gate of the abbot's compound. These are the buildings that escaped the 1945 fire, and they were designated on 17 September 1954. The second is the stone torii outside the west gate, designated on 30 January 1934. Originally wooden, it is said to have been rebuilt in stone in 1294, which makes it the oldest structure on the grounds.

Eleven buildings are listed as Registered Tangible Cultural Property. The octagonal pavilion in the abbot's garden was registered on 15 July 1997, and the remaining ten on 29 June 2022. Those ten fall into two halves: five postwar reconstructions in the central precinct, namely the pagoda, Golden Hall, Lecture Hall, Middle Gate and corridor, and five older buildings brought to Shitennoji Temple from elsewhere between the Edo and Meiji periods, namely the Amida Hall, the ossuary, the Shoryoin Karamon Gate, the Honbo Karamon Gate and the Seiryutei tea house. The five reconstructions are valued as the first serious attempt in Japan to rebuild an ancient temple from excavated evidence.

Hours and Admission

The gates of Shitennoji Temple never close, and you can pray at any hall from outside at any hour. Three areas charge admission: the central precinct, the Garden of the Pure Land and the treasure house. Everything else is free.

The halls, central precinct and garden open at 8:30 a.m. and close at 4:30 p.m. from April to September, and at 4:00 p.m. from October to March. On the 21st of each month and during major observances they open at 8:00 a.m. and close 30 minutes later than usual. The Rokujido stays open until 6:00 p.m.

Admission to the central precinct is 500 yen for adults, 300 yen for high school students, and free for elementary and junior high school pupils and younger children. The garden costs 300 yen for adults and 200 yen for high school, junior high and elementary school students. The treasure house charges 500 yen for adults and 300 yen for high school students, with junior high pupils and younger admitted free. Groups of 30 or more receive a discount, and visitors presenting a disability certificate enter free with one companion. The central precinct is opened without charge on the 21st and 22nd of each month and during the spring and autumn equinox observances.

Getting to Shitennoji Temple

The closest station is Shitennojimae Yuhigaoka on the Osaka Metro Tanimachi Line, a 5-minute walk to the south. From Tennoji Station, served by the JR Osaka Loop Line and the Osaka Metro, it is a 12-minute walk north; from Osaka Abenobashi Station on the Kintetsu Minami-Osaka Line, 14 minutes north. City buses stop at Shitennoji Nishimon-mae and Shitennoji Higashi-Daimon-mae, both at the gates.

By car, the temple is about 6 minutes from the Yuhigaoka exit of Hanshin Expressway Route 14, or about 10 minutes from the Fuminosato exit if you approach from Matsubara. A pay car park beside the south gate holds up to 34 vehicles and charges 200 yen per 30 minutes from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 100 yen per 60 minutes overnight. There is no coach parking.

The Temple Calendar

The 21st and 22nd of every month are fair days at Shitennoji Temple, when market stalls fill the paths. On 22 April, court dance is performed on the stone stage that juts into the turtle pond during the Shoryoe memorial service. The Doyadoya festival on 14 January, the thousand-day pilgrimage on 9 and 10 August, and the equinox weeks in spring and autumn all draw crowds. Anyone visiting on an ordinary day can still join the relic veneration held in the Golden Hall every morning at 11 o'clock.