Isshinji Temple

Isshin-ji Temple is a Jōdo sect Buddhist temple in Tennōji Ward, Osaka City, famous for accepting visitors and receiving ashes for interment regardless of religious affiliation. The temple is said to have originated in 1185, when Hōnen established a hermitage here; it is also said that the sea could be seen to the west from this area at that time. After Hōnen’s death, the temple was revived in 1596 through the performance of a thousand-day nenbutsu practice. Isshin-ji is also known as the site where Tokugawa Ieyasu set up his headquarters during the Winter and Summer Sieges of Osaka; within the grounds is the grave of Honda Tada’asa, a warrior who died in battle. It is said that on the night before the fighting, Honda drank heavily, and as he lay dying he left the words, “What must be avoided is alcohol.” This led to his being revered as a “god who seals away drinking,” and people who vow to quit alcohol still visit to pray here. Another striking feature of Isshin-ji is its modern main gate and Niō guardian statues. The original gate, known as the “Kuro-mon (Black Gate),” was relocated from Osaka Castle’s Tamatsukuri Gate of the third bailey, but it was destroyed in the air raids of 1945. The current Kuro-mon was rebuilt in 1997. Inside the Sanzanbutsudō Hall on the east side of the grounds, countless golden Buddha figures stand in rows, created through donations.