Taisanji Temple (Kamiita)

The Temple Said to Be Awa's First Place of Buddhist Practice

Taisanji Temple (大山寺, Taisan-ji) is a temple of the Daigo branch of the Shingon school on the slopes of Mount Oyama in Kanyake, Kamiita Town, Tokushima Prefecture, and four of its buildings, the main hall, the Daishido Hall, the corridor and the bell tower gate, were listed together as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan on January 26, 2011.

Its mountain name is Butsuozan and its cloister name Gyokurin-in, but locals call it "Oyama-san" after the mountain, and the temple itself advises that this nickname works better than the formal name when asking for directions. The same characters are used for Daisenji in Daisen, Tottori Prefecture, a different temple. Here both the Agency for Cultural Affairs database and the temple give the reading Taisanji.

According to the temple's own account of its origins, it was founded around the year 500 by the monk Saihan, in the reigns of the emperors Buretsu and Keitai, and was the first place in the old province of Awa where Buddhism was practiced. Kobo Daishi (Kukai) is said to have organized the halls when he came to Awa, given the temple the mountain name Butsuozan and installed a Thousand-Armed Kannon he had received from his teacher Huiguo.

Temple tradition adds that Minamoto no Yoshitsune climbed the mountain in 1185 to pray for victory on his way to the battle of Yashima, and that the retired emperor Tsuchimikado built a goma hall here in the Antei era (1227 to 1229) and dedicated a statue of Fudo Myoo. In the Edo period the Hachisuka lords of Tokushima made it a temple of official prayer and endowed it with rice land. These are the temple's traditions; we have not found contemporary records that confirm them.

Taisanji is now temple No. 1 on both the Shikoku Bekkaku 20 pilgrimage and the Shikoku 36 Fudo pilgrimage, the first stop on each route.

Taisanji's Four Registered Buildings and Their Dates

The four buildings carry consecutive registration numbers, 36-0094 through 36-0097, and were announced on the same day in the 69th round of registrations: the main hall (36-0094), the Daishido Hall (36-0095), the corridor (36-0096) and the bell tower gate (36-0097). All four were registered on the same ground, that they contribute to the historic landscape of the country.

The main hall is the oldest. The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the middle of the Edo period (1661 to 1751) and records that it was moved here in 1796. The Daishido Hall is dated to a single year, 1863. The corridor and the bell tower gate belong to the closing decades of the Edo period (1830 to 1868). In 1985 the main hall, the Daishido Hall and the bell tower gate were repaired, and the main hall had already been repaired once in 1952.

Each building has its own character. The Agency describes the main hall as a hall with carvings of dragons, baku and plants typical of its age, the Daishido Hall as a standard late Edo hall for Kobo Daishi, and the bell tower gate as large and composed. The corridor is the odd one out: a passage made into a place of worship, which the Agency calls an unusual kind of temple building.

How the Buildings of Taisanji Are Laid Out

Read together, the Agency's descriptions show that all four buildings at Taisanji face east and stand roughly in a north-south line.

The bell tower gate stands in front of the main hall but lower down, at the foot of a flight of stone steps. Visitors pass through the gate and climb the steps to reach the main hall. North of the main hall is the Daishido Hall, and a corridor running north and south joins the two. Along the corridor's middle row, an altar platform holds statues of the 33 Kannon, and the bay along its front serves as a place to pray.

Main hall, corridor and Daishido Hall thus present one long east-facing front. Coming up the steps from the bell tower gate, this row of halls is what you arrive in front of.

The Chikara Mochi and Other Events at Taisanji

What makes Taisanji known across Tokushima is the chikara mochi, the "strength rice cake" contest held at the New Year service for the principal image on the third Sunday of January. Contestants lift a huge mirror rice cake of 86 kilograms on its wooden stand, 169 kilograms in all, and compete to see who can carry it farthest.

The temple traces the custom to a legend about Shichijo Kanenaka, lord of nearby Shichijo Castle in the Warring States period, who prayed here, was granted great strength, and in thanks carried a nine-tiered stone pagoda and a mirror rice cake up the mountain on his back. In the Edo period the Hachisuka lords had their retainers shoulder giant rice cakes to compete in strength.

On the day, an outdoor fire ritual and fire-walking begin at 10:00 a.m., and the chikara mochi starts at around 12:30 p.m. The mountain road becomes one-way at set times, and cars that have driven up cannot leave until the next downhill window.

Other fixed events at Taisanji include a prayer service for good relationships on the first Sunday of April, the great festival of the inner sanctuary's Namikiri Fudo on the last Sunday of August, and the Sanbo Kojin festival on November 23. The large ginkgo in the grounds usually turns yellow in early and mid-November.

Visiting Taisanji and Getting There

Taisanji is a working temple that welcomes pilgrims. Its website gives no opening hours, admission fee or photography rules. The exteriors of all four registered buildings can be seen from within the grounds, but the temple publishes no information on access to the hall interiors, so take care not to disturb services. Inquiries go to Taisanji at 088-694-5525.

By public transport, the temple suggests a taxi from Itano Station on the JR Kotoku Line, about 20 minutes for roughly 10 kilometers. You can also take the Tokushima Bus service bound for Kajiyabara from Tokushima Station and get off at Kanyake, but the temple is still about 6 kilometers away, some 15 minutes by a taxi you will need to call. Walkers from Kanyake follow the road uphill by the signs for the Oyama outdoor center or the Shikoku no Michi trail. The Shikoku Tourism Creation Organization recommends a car or taxi, since the temple is far from any station or bus stop.

Drivers leave the Asan Tobu farm road and follow the signs for the outdoor center. About 500 meters before the temple the road to the center branches off, and from there the temple's own signs take over. Taisanji has a parking lot, but sources disagree on the fee: the Shikoku Tourism Creation Organization lists it as free, while Awa Navi, Tokushima's tourism site, gives 500 yen. On chikara mochi day the one-way system described above applies.