Myoo-in Temple

Beside the Ashida River in Kusado-cho, Fukuyama, a National Treasure main hall and a National Treasure five-story pagoda stand in the same precinct. Chudozan Myoo-in is a temple of the Daikakuji school of Shingon Buddhism, and its principal image is the Eleven-Headed Kannon. Temple tradition says Kukai founded it in 807, though firm records are scarce. It was originally Jofuku-ji, a temple of the Ritsu school, and in the Edo period it merged with a temple called Myoo-in and took the present name. The Fukuyama lords Mizuno Katsunari and Katsusada, and later the Abe family, were among its devoted patrons.

The main hall is said to have been rebuilt in the Gen'o era, around 1321. It has a tiled hip-and-gable roof and blends the Japanese style with Chinese-influenced Zen-style elements; it was designated a National Treasure in 1964.

The five-story pagoda was built in 1348 and is a leading example of early Muromachi architecture in the pure Japanese style. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a pagoda whose form is well proportioned among Japanese-style five-story pagodas. Its central pillar stops at the second story. Inside, an altar stands within the four central pillars on the ground floor, enshrining Maitreya as the principal image along with Fudo Myoo and Aizen Myoo. The walls carry pictorial biographies of the eight patriarchs of Shingon, and the central pillars bear the thirty-six deities of the Diamond Realm, with the walls, pillars and tie beams all decorated with paintings. Apart from a later door and a rear panel, much of the original decoration survives. The pagoda was designated a National Treasure in 1953.

The principal image, a wooden standing Eleven-Headed Kannon from the early Heian period said to be the work of Saicho, is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property. The mountain gate, study hall and priests' quarters are designated by Hiroshima Prefecture, and the goma hall and the seven-story stone pagoda by Fukuyama City. The temple is also No. 8 on the Chugoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage and No. 18 among the 24 Temples of Flowers in the Sanyo region, so pilgrims come here as well.

Along the Ashida River in front of the temple lie the ruins of Kusado Sengen-cho, a port town that flourished in the Middle Ages. The town is said to have been washed away by a flood in the early Edo period, and the neighboring Kusado Inari Shrine prospered as its temple-and-shrine town. The two National Treasures stand where they do now carrying that history of life on the riverbank.

Walk once around the precinct and compare the curve of the main hall's roof with the stacked eaves of the pagoda up close. Allow about 30 minutes to an hour to take it in without hurrying. It combines easily with Fukuyama Castle, Miroku no Sato and Tomo no Ura for a day exploring Fukuyama's history.