Onzanji, Temple 18, Shikoku

A stunningly beautiful temple perched up on the wooded hillside.  Getting there involved driving to a parking area, walking up the hillside, then walking up a good number of steps.

At the very beginning, I met a couple of 84 and 82 years, who have been walking there for 40 years.

I was joined at the top by a bus load of pilgrims from Oita, Kyushu.  

Built on the outskirts of Komatsushima City, Onzanji is located in a Prefectural Designated Scenic Area, a pleasant forest of trees on a small mountain. According to legend, the temple was founded by Gyoki by order of Emperor Shomu (reigned 724-49) and named Dainichisan Fukushoin Mitsugonji. 

The principal image was a statue of Yakushi Nyorai (Medicine Buddha) carved by Gyoki. The temple is said to have been a place to save people from calamities and epidemics. Women were not allowed to enter the temple or the area from the Hanaorisaka hill leading toward Temple 19.

Around 814, when Kobo Daishi was practicing asceticism at this temple, his mother, Tamayori Gozen, came here from Zentsūji in Sanuki. However, women were not allowed at the temple. Kobo Daishi spent seven days in the waterfall near the temple gate and performed a secret ceremony for the liberation of women. 

After that, he was able to welcome his mother. His mother cut her own hair and dedicated it to the temple. To commemorate this event, Kobo Daishi changed the name of the temple to Boyōzan Onzanji. He carved a statue of himself and enshrined it in the temple, saying, “My wish is to rid the world of the troubles of less fortunate people.” The temple was destroyed by fire during the Tensho era (1603-1868), but during the Edo period (1603-1868), it flourished under the patronage of the Lords of Awa.

The present Hondo and Daishido are historical buildings constructed during the Bunka and Bunsei eras (1804-30). There is a small hall dedicated to Tamayori Gozen in the precincts of the temple. The Biranju Tree, which is said to have been planted by Kobo Daishi to commemorate the liberation of women, is also a Prefectural Natural Monument. It is a temple of the heart of Kobo Daishi, who devoted himself to his mother.