Mitaki Temple

Mitaki-dera Temple is a temple on Mt. Mitaki in northwestern Hiroshima City and has long been cherished by locals as "Mitaki Kannon." Three waterfalls flow within the grounds, giving the temple its name, and this water is also used as an offering at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony. Thanks to its setting, the temple is beautiful in every season, and its autumn foliage is especially well known as one of Hiroshima’s scenic highlights. During the fall colors season, the "Fudaraku Garden," a landscape garden centered on "Bon-on Waterfall," the waterfall with the greatest height difference among the three, is opened for a limited time—making autumn an ideal season to fully appreciate the atmosphere of Mitaki-dera. A Tahoto pagoda on the grounds is said to date back to the Muromachi period and was moved from Wakayama Prefecture to memorialize victims of the atomic bombing; it is designated as an Important Cultural Property of Hiroshima Prefecture. The temple also houses a wooden seated Amida Nyorai (Important Cultural Property of Japan) and a stone-carved Sanskrit seed-syllable marker of Kannon said to have been made by Kobo Daishi. Access to Mitaki-dera is about a 15-minute walk from Mitaki Station on the JR Kabe Line. If arriving by car, free parking is available.