Takkoku no Iwaya

photo by Nerotaso · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by 663highland · CC BY-SA 4.0

In 801 Tamuramaro carved out a hall on stilts here, with 108 statues of Bishamonten.

A rock face opens into a cave where, in 801, General Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, in thanks for his victory over the Emishi of the north, had a hall on stilts built, modelled on the famous ‘stage’ of Kyoto's Kiyomizu-dera, with one hundred and eight statues of Bishamonten. Local legend identifies the defeated Emishi chief, called ‘Akuro-ō’ in the sources, with Aterui, who led the resistance against the imperial army before being executed.

Temple in the town of Hiraizumi, just outside the core of the UNESCO sites, run as Takkoku Saikō-ji. The site has been protected as a national Historic Site (史跡) since 2005.

ℹ️ Open all year, 8:00–17:00. Admission 500¥ adults, 200¥ junior high and high school students, free for elementary school children. A few kilometres from Chūson-ji and the centre of Hiraizumi.

Sources: hiraizumi.or.jp · online.bunka.go.jp

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