Chichibu Fudasho No.31 Kannon-in Temple
Until 1872, when the government banned Shugendo practices, this temple served as a Shugendo training site. Practitioners purified themselves in a waterfall on the temple grounds, trained in the surrounding mountains, and also protected the principal statue.
The Main Hall was formerly a three-story wooden hall called Sazae-do, with a spiral staircase inside. It was named after a turban shell, whose spiral structure it resembled. That hall burned down in 1893. The current Main Hall was rebuilt in 1972.
Chichibu Fudasho No.31 Kannon-in Temple
- Japanese / English notation
- 鷲窟山 観音院（しゅうくつざん かんのんいん）/ Syukutu-Zan Kannon-in Temple
- Location
- 〒368-0111 Iida2211,ogano-machi,chichibu-gun,Saitama
- School
- Soto Zen School
- Principal Image
- Sho Kannon (Sacred Kannon)
- Tagline
- A Temple with 108,000 Cliff-Carved Buddhas and Japan’s Largest Pair of Stone Nio Statues
- Blessings
- Fulfillment of All Wishes
- Protection from Hardship and Good Fortune
- Peace and Safety
- Highlights
- Nio statues at the gate: These are the largest pair of stone Nio guardian statues in Japan.
- 108,000 stone Buddhas: These include cliff-carved Buddhas called “Thousand Buddhas Carved with Fingernails” within the temple grounds, as well as stone Buddhas enshrined in rock caves along the path to Okunoin, the remote sanctuary. They are said to total 108,000 across the mountain.
- Miracles of Kannon at This Temple
- A Story of Hatakeyama Shigetada
There was a powerful samurai warrior named Hatakeyama Shigetada.
One day, while hunting in the mountains, he found an eagle’s nest at the top of a tall tree.
“It’s dangerous, so let’s knock down that nest,” Shigetada thought, and told his men to aim at it with their bows and arrows.
But, strangely, all the arrows his men shot bounced off and could not reach it. Curious, Shigetada looked closely at the tree and saw a shining statue of Sho Kannon revealed in the eagle’s nest.
Amazed, Shigetada decided to build a temple to honor and protect the statue. This is the temple that stands here today.
- Nearest station
- 4-hours walk from Seibu Railway Seibuchichibu Station.