Daihiden Toshoji Temple 大悲殿東昌寺

Official explanation

Daihiden Toshoji is a Soto Zen temple located approximately 300 meters northeast of the main grounds of Sanage Shrine at the base of Mt. Sanage. It was founded in 1932 by a priest with a strong faith in Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion. He was inspired to establish a new temple next to Yamanaka Kannondo, a historic hall that houses a famous tenth-century statue of Senju Kannon, the thousand-armed incarnation of the bodhisattva.

Senju Kannon is the principal deity of Daihiden Toshoji and is enshrined in the main hall. That building is open to visitors and serves as the venue for zazen meditation classes. Opposite the main hall are 33 smaller stone statues of Kannon that were once placed along a path around the hillside as part of a miniature pilgrimage route.

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Daihiden Toshoji is generally a place for quiet contemplation, with the exception of Setsubun (usually February 3), the last day of winter in the traditional Japanese calendar. This is when local residents gather at the temple to ward off evil through the ritual of mamemaki (“bean-throwing”). This custom involves the flinging of hard, dried soybeans that are believed to drive harmful spirits away.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.