Visit HYOGO

Standing quietly among the mountains of Tamba-Sasayama, Byakugoji Temple is a temple of the Tendai school with around 1,300 years of history and charming flowers in all seasons. According to the temple history, Byakugoji was founded in 705 by Hodo Sennin, a famous Indian Buddhist priest who visited Japan, and gained its name because the whorl of white hair (“byakugo”) on the brow of the principal image of Yakushi Nyorai (Bhaisajyagurum, the medicine Buddha) gave off a holy light.

In the early summer, the wonderful “Kyu-shaku Fuji” wisteria is in beautiful bloom, and the fantastical sight, like a purple shower pouring down, is worth a look. Large numbers of people visit the temple for the Kyu-shaku Fuji festival held each year at the beginning of May to get a glimpse of these flowers. The wisteria is impressive during the day, but when lit up at night, the gradation of the wisteria flowers is prominent, offering a different type of loveliness to the daylight.

In the fall, the temple grounds are colored by vivid red and yellow autumn leaves, while the spring sees rhododendrons and the summer offers crape myrtle, creating different scenery through the seasons; you can enjoy varying vistas each time you visit.

Why not spend some serene moments experiencing the beauty of nature in a temple where you can feel history?