Daijo-ji Temple

Daijo-ji Temple is a Koyasan Shingon Buddhist temple located in Kami Town, Mikata District, Hyogo Prefecture. It is said to have been founded in Tenpyo 17 (AD 745) by the Nara-period monk Gyoki. It is also known as “Okyo-dera,” as it houses many fusuma (sliding-door) paintings by Maruyama Okyo and his school, artists active from the mid to late Edo period. Access is about a 25-minute walk from Kasumi Station on the JR San’in Main Line. The temple’s 165 wall and screen paintings, as well as its wooden standing Eleven-Headed Kannon statue, wooden Sho-Kannon statue, and other wooden Kannon images, are designated Important Cultural Properties of Japan. The guest hall presents a breathtaking space where architecture, religion, and art are seamlessly fused. The poet Akiko Yosano, active from the Meiji to Taisho eras, is said to have praised Okyo and his school’s fusuma paintings with a poem celebrating the master’s enduring brushwork. The Kasumi area, where Daijo-ji is located, is also famous as a rich culinary region of sea and mountains, known for Matsuba crab and Tajima beef. In addition, the sunset viewed from the Kasumi Coast—selected as one of the “100 Best Sunsets in Japan”—is truly spectacular, making it a wonderful place to stop by on your way back from visiting the temple.