Tatsue-ji Temple

The 'Barrier of Awa' and the 'Great Barrier of Shikoku' are the names this temple has long been given. It is Tatsue-ji in Komatsushima, Tokushima, Temple 19 of the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage. Its mountain name is Kyochizan and its subtemple name Mani-in, and it is a special head temple of the Koyasan Shingon school. Its main image is Enmei Jizo Bosatsu, and as a temple for safe childbirth it has been affectionately called 'Tatsue no Jizo-san.'

According to temple tradition, it was founded in 747. The priest Gyoki, acting on the imperial wish of Emperor Shomu, is said to have carved a golden Koyasu Jizo and made it the main image, praying for Empress Komyo's safe delivery. Later Kukai visited, carved a life-size Jizo Bosatsu and placed Gyoki's statue inside it, and the temple is said to have taken the name Tatsue-ji at that time. During the Tensho era (1573 to 1593) it was burned to the ground by the troops of Chosokabe Motochika, but the main image survived. It was then rebuilt on its present site by Hachisuka Iemasa, founder of the Tokushima domain.

The first thing to catch the eye in the grounds is the main hall. The hall burned in a fire in 1974 and was rebuilt in 1977. Inside is a large seated Enmei Jizo, and the ceiling is filled with lavish coffered paintings of flowers, birds and the beauty of nature. They are said to number 286, painted by more than 40 people including professors of the Tokyo University of the Arts, and it is easy to lose track of time just walking and looking up. Besides the multi-treasure pagoda built in 1918, the grounds hold the Daishi Hall, the Kannon Hall (Nyoirin Kannon), the Goma Hall, the Bishamon Hall, the Jinpen Hall and a bell tower.

Another famous sight is the Kurokami-do, the black-hair hall, to the right of the Daishi Hall. Legend says that when a woman named Okyo, who had been unfaithful, came to worship, her hair stood on end and wound around the bell rope, and was left there with her scalp. Hair is still offered here today. From this story the temple has been remembered as a barrier that warns against wayward pilgrims. In the Daishi Hall, an image of Daishi in black robes is shown from New Year's Day to January 10 (fee required).

Tatsue-ji is also Temple 3 of the Thirteen Buddhas of Shikoku and a temple of the Awa Seven Lucky Gods (Bishamonten). It owns a painting of the Shaka Triad on silk, an Important Cultural Property, which is currently on deposit at the Kyoto National Museum.

Access is easy: about a 5-minute walk from Tatsue Station on the JR Mugi Line, or about 25 minutes by car from Tokushima-Tsuda IC on the Tokushima Minami Expressway. Parking is paid. Even if you are not on the pilgrimage, the temple is worth a stop for its ceiling paintings and the black-hair hall.