Ebara-ji Temple

Ebara-ji, in a residential neighborhood of Nishi Ward, Sakai, is known for a main hall whose walls and pillars are covered with handkerchiefs bearing written wishes. At first many people wrote their wishes directly on the walls of the main hall, and the temple was called the Graffiti Temple. Today people write prayers such as wishes for exam success on handkerchiefs and attach them to the outer wall of the main hall, and the temple is affectionately known as the Handkerchief Temple. The principal image is Monju Bosatsu (Manjushri), called the Wisdom Monju by locals, and many worshippers come around exam season.

According to temple tradition, the Nara-period monk Gyoki founded it in 704. It is said that his family home was turned into the temple, so Ebara-ji is regarded as Gyoki's birthplace. Eison revived it in 1245 in the Kamakura period, but it later declined through warfare and suffered heavy damage in the Meiji-era suppression of Buddhism. The three-story pagoda was rebuilt in 1989. It once belonged to Koyasan Shingon, but became independent in 2018, took the name Gyoki sect, and is now a stand-alone temple.

The temple's history also includes stories of scattered treasures. The Nio guardian statues of the gate were sold by villagers in the Meiji period and are now held by the Freer Gallery in Washington, D.C. On the other hand, the set of three hanging scrolls depicting Gyoki's life, the Ketsuhon Chakushoku Gyoki Bosatsu Gyojo Emaden, is an Important Cultural Property and is on deposit at the Nara National Museum. A stone stele is designated a tangible cultural property of Osaka Prefecture, and the grounds are also an Osaka Prefecture historic site.

Among the events, the Great Dondo bonfire on January 15 is well known. Sakai's tourist guide also introduces Ebara-ji as the birthplace of Gyoki and as the Wisdom Monju, and says many people come to pray for success when exam season arrives. Worshippers attach handkerchiefs bearing their wishes to the outer wall of the main hall, and the overlapping cloths covering the wall are the temple's signature scene.

The nearest station is Tsukuno on the JR Hanwa Line. You can also use the Monju-mae stop of Nankai Bus. Ohtori Taisha, already listed on this site, is about 1.3 km away, so the two fit into a half-day course of old shrines and temples in Nishi Ward, Sakai.