Hotsumisaki-ji Temple

Hotsumisaki-ji stands on a hill near the tip of Cape Muroto. It is Temple 24 of the 88-temple Shikoku pilgrimage and the first one pilgrims meet in Tosa. Its full name is Muroto-san Myojo-in, and it belongs to the Shingon Buzan school. The main image is Kokuzo Bosatsu, and the temple is also known as the East Temple (Higashi-dera), a name that appears in its pilgrim's hymn.

This area is said to be where Kukai (Kobo Daishi) trained in the mountains and by the sea for about five years from around 792, when he was 19. He is believed to have practiced the Kokuzo Gumonji-ho ritual in the Mikurodo cave. According to temple tradition, in 807 he carved the main image at the order of Emperor Saga and founded the temple. In 1341 Ashikaga Takauji designated it the Ankoku-ji of Tosa. After a fire, the monk Saisho rebuilt it in the Genna era (1615-1624) with help from the Tosa lord Yamauchi Tadayoshi. It fell into ruin when Shinto and Buddhism were separated in the early Meiji era, and was rebuilt in 1914. The temple once barred women, who worshipped from the Nyonindo (women's hall); the ban was lifted in 1872.

You enter the grounds through a two-story Nio gate. The main hall dates from 1924, the Daishi hall from 1985 and the multi-treasure pagoda from 1979; the pagoda enshrines a seated Dainichi Nyorai of the Diamond Realm and statues of the Four Heavenly Kings. The Reihoden treasure hall holds Important Cultural Properties, including a wooden seated Yakushi Nyorai and a wooden standing Gakko Bosatsu, and is opened on a Saturday or Sunday around the Lighthouse Festival in the first week of November. A stone half-seated Nyoirin Kannon and a pair of lacquered tripod trays are also designated Important Cultural Properties. The bell stone, said to ring like a bell when struck, is counted among Kukai's Seven Mysteries, and the yakkoso, which is at its best in late November, is another feature of the grounds.

Stamps for the Ichiya Kenritsu cave (Kannon-kutsu), the temple's inner sanctuary, are given at this temple's stamp office. The pilgrim path known as the Tosa Henro Michi Hotsumisaki-ji route is one of the components of the national Historic Site Tosa Henro Michi, and was designated on March 10, 2025. The temple lodging Hotsumisaki-ji Henro Center, which holds 120 people, is on the grounds and is used by pilgrims.

By bus, get off at Muroto-misaki and walk about 20 minutes. By car, take the Muroto Skyline (Prefectural Route 203); parking holds 37 cars. Nearby are the Mikurodo cave, where Kukai is said to have trained, and Cape Muroto itself, and the pilgrim route continues to Temple 25, Shinsho-ji. It is best to allow plenty of time to walk around the mountain precincts.