Nakayamadera Temple

Nakayamadera is in Takarazuka, Hyogo, and its gate is about 2 minutes on foot from Nakayama-Kannon Station on the Hankyu line. It is Temple No. 24 of the Saigoku Thirty-three Kannon pilgrimage and has long been worshipped as the Kannon of safe childbirth. The official site describes it as founded by Prince Shotoku and as a temple of imperial prayer for Emperor Meiji.

Temple tradition says Emperor Ojin first opened it to honor a prince's spirit, and Prince Shotoku later founded it to calm the spirits of Mononobe no Moriya and others. Retired Emperor Kazan revived the Saigoku pilgrimage in the Heian period, making it the 24th stop. The whole mountain burned in 1578, and Toyotomi Hideyori rebuilt the halls in 1603. Belief in safe childbirth is linked to a story of Tada no Yukitsuna and his wife, and a prayer ceremony is held on each Day of the Dog. The belly band blessed here is called Kane no O.

The main image, a standing Eleven-headed Kannon, is kept hidden and shown only on the 18th of each month. After damage in the 1995 earthquake, the pagoda Daigan-to was rebuilt in 2007 and the five-storied pagoda Seiryu-to in 2017. Allow about an hour for the main grounds.