Affectionately known to locals as "Gobo-san," Higashi Honganji Ibaraki Betsuin, a branch of the Jodo Shinshu Otani sect of Buddhism, boasts a 400-year history. Founded in 1603 by Reverend Kyonyo, who had recently established Higashi Honganji in Shichijo Karasuma, Kyoto, Ibaraki was a post town on the Saigoku Kaido highway at the time. It is said that Reverend Kyonyo always stayed here when traveling to Osaka after being donated land within the castle by Katagiri Katsumoto, the lord of Ibaraki Castle. The current main hall was built in 1777 and houses a wooden statue of Reverend Kyonyo. The magnificent temple complex is the largest in Ibaraki City. The 400-year-old black pine tree towering to the right of the temple grounds as you enter through the main gate is said to have been planted when the temple was built. In 1920, the 22nd head priest, Kageyoshi (Kubutsu), named the tree "Kosei no Matsu" (Pine of Great Vows), and it has been designated as a preserved tree by Ibaraki City.