Hashikuraji Temizuya: A Mountain-Top Ablution Pavilion of 1896
After climbing 278 stone steps inscribed with the entire Heart Sutra—one character per riser—pilgrims who reach the upper terrace of Hashikuraji do not immediately approach the main hall. To the right of the Honden stands a small, square pavilion sheltering a stone water basin. This is the Temizuya, where every visitor is expected to rinse hands and mouth before drawing nearer to Konpira Daigongen, the deity enshrined within. Built in 1896 (Meiji 29), the pavilion was added to Japan's national register of Tangible Cultural Properties (buildings) on 28 October 2011.
The Temizuya occupies the highest part of the temple complex, roughly 545 metres above sea level on the southern flank of Mount Hōju, an outlier of Mount Hashikura in western Tokushima. From its eaves, visitors who pause to dip the ladle can see the wooded ridges of the Iya valley falling away below.
From Konpira to Mount Hashikura
The story of Hashikuraji begins in the year 828, when the monk Kūkai—posthumously titled Kōbō Daishi—is said to have climbed this mountain during his journey through Shikoku. According to temple tradition, he received a revelation from Konpira Daigongen: "Whoever lifts chopsticks, I vow to save them." The phrase covers every person who eats; the temple has been understood ever since as a place of universal salvation. Hashikuraji thus grew up as the okunoin, the inner sanctuary, of the great Konpira shrine at Kotohira in neighbouring Sanuki Province.
A fire in 1826 destroyed the older buildings, and the present compound was rebuilt across the nineteenth century. The Honden, Goma-den, hōjō, Yakushidō, bell tower and Tenjinsha shrine were raised first, between roughly 1856 and the late Edo period, and were collectively designated as Important Cultural Properties in July 2004. The four later structures—the Niōmon gate, the tall stone lantern, the Chūmon, and this Temizuya—followed in the early Meiji era as the mountain temple consolidated its position as a major pilgrimage site. All four were registered together in 2011.
Why the Temizuya Was Registered
Japan's Tangible Cultural Property register, established in 1996, was designed to protect a wider range of historic buildings than the older Important Cultural Property system. The criteria reward buildings more than fifty years old that contribute to a regional landscape, illustrate a recognised type, or carry technical interest. The Temizuya at Hashikuraji meets all three.
As a Meiji-era ablution pavilion at a mountain temple of considerable rank, it preserves the practice of ritual purification in its original physical setting. It also forms part of a coherent group of late-nineteenth-century additions—gateways, lantern, ablution pavilion—whose collective registration in 2011 acknowledged the way these structures complete the experience of the Konpira okunoin. The Temizuya is the smallest of the four, but its position immediately before the Honden gives it disproportionate ritual weight: it is the last structure a pilgrim passes through before the encounter with the deity.
What to Notice on a Visit
The Temizuya is reached only after a long ascent. Pilgrims who walk from the Niōmon gate at the foot of the mountain climb 769 steps to reach the main hall terrace. Those who take the Hashikurayama Ropeway from the valley station are spared the lower part of the route but still face the 278 steps from the hōjō to the upper level—the Heart Sutra staircase, where each riser carries one of the 278 Chinese characters of the sutra.
At the top, the Temizuya sits to one side of the broad terrace in front of the Honden. The form is the basic four-posted square type used at shrines and temples across Japan, but several details reward a closer look. Note the joinery where the bracket arms support the roof, the patina on the bronze fittings, and the worn stone of the basin itself, polished by more than a century of palms. Behind the Temizuya, half hidden, stands the Kannon-dō, the oldest building on the site, moved here from a temple in Tokushima City during the Taishō era.
The custom is to take the ladle in the right hand, pour water over the left, switch hands and rinse the right, then cup water in the left palm to rinse the mouth (without touching the ladle directly to the lips). Empty the remaining water down the handle to clean it for the next person. A short bow before and after completes the act.
Around the Mountain
Hashikuraji repays a slow visit. After the Temizuya and the Honden, walk left across the broad sandō to the wide ground used for the open-air goma fire ceremonies, where the four stone Fudō Myōō figures of the Shikoku Fudō Pilgrimage stand at the edge of the forest. The Mieidō, dedicated to Kōbō Daishi, lies beyond. Returning by the Heart Sutra staircase, look for the lantern donated by the Ichikawa Danjūrō family of kabuki actors, which stands in front of the Goma-den.
Down in the valley, the Iya-no-Kazurabashi vine bridge and the Ōboke and Koboke gorges of the Yoshino River are within a half-day's drive. The pilgrim town of Ikeda, at the foot of the ropeway, has a small but worthwhile tobacco museum and several places to taste soba made from the buckwheat of the surrounding hills. Pilgrims completing the Shikoku Bekkaku Twenty Sacred Sites route reach Hashikuraji as the fifteenth temple of the circuit.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Tokushima
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Hashikuraji Temple Chozuya
- [ Iya Valley Vine Bridges & Awa Odori Dance ]
Q&A
- Can I see the Temizuya without climbing the Heart Sutra staircase?
- No. The Temizuya stands on the upper terrace beside the Honden, at the top of the 278-step staircase. The ropeway brings you only as far as the hōjō level; the final climb is on foot.
- Is the Temizuya in active use?
- Yes. Visitors are expected to use it before approaching the Honden. Cleansing the hands and mouth is part of the ordinary etiquette of approach at any shinbutsu-shūgō site of this kind.
- When is the best season to visit?
- Late March to early April for cherry blossom along the path, mid-November for autumn colour, and early August for the Hashi-kuyō chopstick memorial ceremony on the fourth. Heavy snow occasionally settles on the upper terrace in midwinter.
- Why is the temple's deity addressed as a kami when this is a Buddhist temple?
- Hashikuraji preserves the shinbutsu-shūgō tradition in which Buddhist and Shinto figures were worshipped together. The principal object of worship, Konpira Daigongen, is understood as a Buddhist deity (the bodhisattva-king Kumbhīra) manifesting in the guise of a Japanese kami. Most other temples were forced to choose one identity after the 1868 separation edict; Hashikuraji was not.
- Can I photograph the Temizuya?
- Photography is generally permitted in the open precincts, including around the Temizuya. The interior of the Honden, where the principal image is kept hidden, is off-limits to cameras.
Basic Information
| Name | Hashikuraji Temizuya |
|---|---|
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building), national register |
| Date of registration | 28 October 2011 |
| Date of construction | 1896 (Meiji 29) |
| Quantity | 1 structure |
| Address | 1006 Kuradani, Sushū, Ikeda-chō, Miyoshi City, Tokushima Prefecture |
| Owner | Hashikuraji (religious corporation) |
| Access | Approximately 4 minutes by Hashikurayama Ropeway from the base station near JR Hashikura station (Dosan Line), then a 278-step climb from the hōjō to the upper terrace. |
| Pilgrimage circuits | Fifteenth temple of the Shikoku Bekkaku Twenty Sacred Sites; fourth of the Shikoku 36 Fudō; twenty-eighth of the Shikoku 33 Kannon. |
| Other heritage on site | Six Important Cultural Properties (Honden, Goma-den, hōjō, Yakushidō, bell tower, Tenjinsha); three further Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Niōmon, tall lantern, Chūmon); the Kannon-dō, designated by Tokushima Prefecture. |
References
- Hashikuraji official website — Temple history and cultural properties
- http://www.hashikura.or.jp/?page_id=4933
- Tokushima Prefecture — National and prefectural cultural property list (PDF)
- https://www.pref.tokushima.lg.jp/file/attachment/803209.pdf
- Hashikuraji — Japanese Wikipedia
- https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/箸蔵寺
- Shikoku Bekkaku Twenty Sacred Sites — Temple 15 Hashikuraji
- https://www.bekkaku.com/?page_id=43
- Agency for Cultural Affairs — National Designated Cultural Property Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/
Last verified: 2026.05.16