Chichibu Fudasho No.34 Suisen-ji Temple
This temple marks the completion of the Chichibu Pilgrimage. It is also the final temple of all three Kannon pilgrimages: the Saigoku (33 sites in Greater Kyoto), the Bando (33 sites in Greater Tokyo), and the Chichibu (34 sites), which together form the One Hundred Kannon Pilgrimage.
The temple was originally founded in 1532 and was later revived. The Kannon Hall was rebuilt in 1828 and renovated in the 20th century.
A spring flows from the cliff behind the hall. Pilgrims once purified themselves by passing through the rocky cave within the cliff (now closed to visitors), from which this sacred water springs forth. This act is said to be the origin of the temple’s name, meaning “Water Passage Temple.”
Chichibu Fudasho No.34 Suisen-ji Temple
- Japanese / English notation
- 日沢山 水潜寺（にったくさん すいせんじ）/ Nittaku-San Suisen-ji Temple
- Location
- 〒369-1625 Shimohinozawa3522,minano-machi,chichibu-gun,Saitama
- School
- Soto Zen School
- Principal Image
- Senju Kannon (Thousand-Armed Kannon)
- Tagline
- The Temple of Pilgrimage Completion
- Blessings
- Fulfillment of All Wishes
- Renewal and Good Fortune
- Peaceful Child-Rearing
- Highlights
- One Hundred Kannon Osuna: This is a sand-treading area made from sacred sand collected from the One Hundred Kannon pilgrimage sites. Blessings are believed to be gained by praying here.
- Pilgrims’ Walking Sticks and Straw Hats: These are items offered by pilgrims who have completed their pilgrimage.
- Miracles of Kannon at This Temple
- Fudatate Pass
Around the year 830, during a severe drought, a traveling monk appeared and taught the villagers to follow the Kannon faith. He prayed to the One Hundred Kannon, entrusting his prayers to three Buddhas: Amida Nyorai, the Buddha of Infinite Light, from the Saigoku pilgrimage in Greater Kyoto; Yakushi Nyorai, the Medicine Buddha, from the Bando pilgrimage in Greater Tokyo; and Senju Kannon, the Thousand-Armed Kannon, from the Chichibu pilgrimage.
He erected a wooden tablet at the pass displaying a phrase from the Kannon Sutra, which compares Kannon to a cloud that brings rain and spreads the Buddha’s teaching. Soon, dark clouds appeared, rain fell, and the drought ended.
The place where he prayed to the three Buddhas became this temple, and the pass where he erected the wooden tablet is now called Fudatate Pass, meaning “tablet erecting.”
- Nearest station
- 1-hours and 30-minutes walk from Chichibu Railway Minano Station.