The Buddhist monk Kukai, active over 1,200 years ago, is widely considered the greatest of all Japanese religious figures. Founder of Mt. Koya, now a World Heritage Site, he was born here in humble Kagawa.
Follow in his footsteps on this course, from his birthplace to where he created the largest reservoir in Japan.
You can even experience the very heart of Japanese Buddhism with a temple stay right where he was born.
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JR Kaiganji Station
- Time required
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1 night, 2 days
JR Kaiganji Station- 5-minute walk
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1Kaiganji Temple
Kaiganji Temple is located in the Byobugaura area of Tadotsu, a town on the Seto Inland Sea coast. Its vast grounds are divided into a coastal zone, where the Main Hall and the monks’ quarters stand, and an inland zone with structures such as the Okunoin and Daishi halls. A public road and the JR Yosan railway line pass through the latter area. Visitors enter the temple through the Niomon, or Gate of the Guardian Kings. Gates such as these are usually flanked by a pair of statues depicting Buddhist deities, but at Kaiganji the guardians are sumo wrestlers instead. According to legend, the temple was established in 807 by the Buddhist priest Kukai (774–835), the founder of the Shingon school and the originator of the Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, upon his return from studies in China. Kukai may have chosen the location for Kaiganji because his mother, Lady Tamayori, resided here around the time when Kukai was born. The assumed site of her residence now hosts the Butsumoin (“mother of Buddha”) Hall, whereas the temple itself is said to have been built on the site of a hut Tamayori had prepared for giving birth. Several places on the grounds afford views of the island-dotted sea to the north. One such viewpoint is the beach behind the Main Hall; another is the Okunoin Hall on a nearby hill, which can be climbed in about 15 minutes.
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- 5-minute walk
- JR Kaiganji Station
- JR Tadotsu Station
- 15-minute walk
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2Doryuji Temple
Doryuji Temple in the town of Tadotsu belongs to the Shingon school of Buddhism and is the 77th sacred site on the 88-temple Shikoku Pilgrimage. The temple traces its history to the year 712 and is noted for its 255 bronze statues of Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion, which line the main approach all the way to the main hall. Some of these statues represent the principal deities of famous temples elsewhere in Japan, whereas others are dedicated to a specific purpose such as praying for traffic safety or for the souls of stillborn children. Equally notable is the temple’s main deity, Yakushi or the Buddha of medicine and healing. This particular Yakushi statue is believed to have the power to cure ailments related to the eyes, as exemplified by the story of an Edo-period (1603–1867) character named Kyogoku Samanomiyatsuko. The blind Kyogoku’s sight is said to have been restored after he prayed at Doryuji. This miracle inspired him to study medicine, especially vision-related ailments, and he eventually came to serve high-ranking samurai lords as their personal physician. Kyogoku’s tomb can be found in the Sentokuinden Hall at Doryuji.
More Details
- 15-minute walk
- JR Tadotsu Station
- JR Zentsuji Station
- 20-minute walk
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3Zentsuji Temple
Zentsuji is a temple of the Shingon school of Buddhism. It traces its history back to the year 807, when Kukai (774–835), the founder of the Shingon school and the son of a local aristocrat, restored his family’s ancestral temple and renamed it Zentsuji. An expansive complex, Zentsuji now consists of two adjacent sanctuaries: To-in or the Eastern Precinct, which Kukai founded, and Sai-in, the Western Precinct, which stands on the site of Kukai’s birthplace and was a separate temple until the late nineteenth century.
The Kondo or Golden Hall at To-in is Zentsuji’s main hall and houses a wooden statue of Yakushi (the Buddha of medicine and healing), the principal deity of the temple. Worship of the Yakushi Buddha has long been prevalent in Japan, both in Shikoku and elsewhere, because this Buddha is believed to help relieve suffering in this life rather than in the next. The current Golden Hall and its statue date back to the years 1699 and 1700 respectively; the originals were lost in a fire in 1558. Other noteworthy buildings at To-in include a five-story pagoda assembled story by story over a period of 60 years, and the temple’s main South Gate, a monumental structure erected to commemorate Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Nearby stand two majestic camphor trees, which are more than a thousand years old and are said to have towered over the temple grounds since the days of Kukai.
The grounds of Sai-in are somewhat less spacious than those of its neighbor but are revered by pilgrims who come to pay their respects at the Mieido Hall. Built on the site where Kukai was born, this ornate building enshrines the grand master of the Shingon school as a deity.More Details
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(Overnight accommodations)
Temple stay at Zentsuji Temple
*Reservation requiredMore Details
- 20-minute walk
- JR Zentsuji Station
- JR Kotohira Station
- "Kotohira Eki-mae" bus stop
- "Manno Koen Guchi" bus stop
- 30-minute walk
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4Manno Reservoir / Manno Park
The Manno Reservoir is both a historical curiosity and an indispensable source of water for many farmers in modern-day Kagawa. About 20 kilometers in circumference, the reservoir helps irrigate some 3,000 hectares of farmland, continuing a centuries-old practice.
Kagawa’s low annual rainfall has meant that farmers have had to contend with repeated droughts and a general lack of fresh water as long as agriculture has been practiced in the region. The first reservoir at Manno was built in the early eighth century by the governor of Sanuki province (present-day Kagawa Prefecture), who had a dam constructed on the Kanakura River to ensure a stable supply of water to the rice paddies downstream. The dam burst in the year 818, but was rebuilt three years later by Sanuki’s most famous son: the Buddhist priest Kukai (774–835), who had studied both esoteric Buddhism and advanced engineering in China. Kukai employed techniques never used before in Japan to construct an arched dam just upstream of the narrowest part of the river valley.
Although the remains of Kukai’s dam are no longer visible in the reservoir, which has been reinforced and deepened several times over the centuries, the site itself is worth a visit for its natural beauty. More than 3,000 cherry trees turn the hillsides pink in spring, while in autumn the woods turn to brilliant shades of yellow and red. The biggest event at Manno Reservoir takes place on June 15, the date that marks both Kukai’s birthday and the start of the summer water releases. The reservoir’s gates are opened to flood the region’s rice paddies, preparing them for planting season.More Details