Sanbutsuji Temple

Sanbutsuji Temple

Sanbutsuji Temple (三仏寺) on Mount Mitoku, about 900 metres high, in Misasa Town, Tottori Prefecture, is a Tendai temple whose late Heian inner hall, Nageiredo, was designated a National Treasure in 1952, and whose Nokyodo, Jizodo and Monjudo of 1580 were designated as an Important Cultural Property (Agency for Cultural Affairs). All four were first designated under the former law in 1904.

According to Tottori Prefecture, temple tradition holds that En no Ozunu opened it in 706 as a place of mountain asceticism, and its halls stand on the steep north slope behind it. The Japan Tourism Agency describes Mt. Mitoku as one of the sacred peaks of mountain asceticism in Hoki, the whole mountain long held to be the home of the gods.

The Four Halls

Nageiredo is set into a cliff-face cave, carried out over the drop on long posts, with pent roofs on either side of a nagare-style core; it is held to be the oldest building in the San'in region (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The temple reports that tree-ring dating in 2001 placed it between 1086 and 1184. The Nokyodo, a tiny shrine-style hall near it, began as the shrine of the mountain's guardian deity (Tottori Prefecture).

The Jizodo and Monjudo are matching halls built out on posts over the rocks along the pilgrim trail (Agency for Cultural Affairs; Tottori Prefecture). Climbing the trail from the main hall, one passes the Momoyama and Muromachi halls on their stilts before reaching the Heian hall in its cave. Each hall is described on its own page.

Visiting

According to the temple, entry to the climbing trail to Nageiredo is from 8:00 to 15:00, and climbers must be down by 16:30. Climbers must go in groups of two or more, and clothing and footwear are checked; small children may not climb, and the trail is closed by snow from about December to March and whenever rain or snow makes it dangerous. A donation fee is charged; check the amount on the temple's website. Near the temple, the hall can be viewed from afar through a telescope (Japan Tourism Agency).