Located in the downtown Umeda area. Constructed in 821 by the renowned monk Kukai - posthumously known as the bodhisattva Kobo Daishi - the temple holds a many-armed statue of the goddess and bodhisattva Kannon as its main object of worship. This statue was received as a gift from Japan's 52nd emperor. The 52nd emperor's heir later added a set of traditional shichido garan Buddhist structures to the temple's expansive grounds, but these were lost in the 1615 Natsu no Jin siege of Osaka. These structures were restored over the period from 1688 to 1704, only to be lost again in the air raids of World War II. The current temple was restored after the war. The many-armed statue of Kannon that acts as the principal object of worship has escaped destruction in these numerous incidents, and remains installed to this day. The grounds also hold a grave marker for Yodo-dono, the wife of historical leader Hideyoshi Toyotomi, who committed suicide in the Natsu no Jin siege of Osaka. Japan's League for the Establishment of a National Assembly formed here in 1880, and the Freedom and People's Rights Movement for civil rights spread across the nation from Taiyuji Temple.