Hoanji Temple
Hoanji Temple is held to have been established roughly 1,400 years ago by Prince Shotoku. The temple's sacred statue of the bodhisattva Kannon standing is a national Important Cultural Property and viewable by the public for one week starting on New Year's Day. The temple reveres the bodhisattva Kangiten, also known as Nipponbashi's Shoden, and Benzaiten, one of Osaka's Seven Lucky Gods.
Hoanji Temple is said to have been built between 593 and 628 in Shigino, Joto-ku, within Osaka City. The temple's name Hoanji or "Bill of Law Temple" draws back to a law proposed from it to promote Buddhism. It is also said to have been the companion temple to Ikutama Shrine. It was moved to the location of the present-day Ikutama Shrine due to historical leader Hideyoshi's castle construction, and received lands from the Tokugawa Shogunate. Since that time, the various lords of Osaka Castle have worshipped passionately here.However, the temple eventually lost its lands in the Meiji era, when legal reforms mandated the separation of temples and shrines. It was reconstructed in its present location in 1879, only to be burned in the air raids of 1945. As a small mercy, the sacred Kannon and Kangiten statues escaped destruction. The temple was reconstructed once more in the aftermath and stands to this day.
Basic information
- Open
- 10:00 - 16:00
- Holidays
- None
- Price
- Free
- Directions
- 5-minute walk from Nipponbashi Station on the Osaka Metro Sakaisuji Line
- Location
- 2-10-14 Shimanouchi, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 542-0082
- Tel
- 06-6211-4585
- Fax
- 06-6211-4585
