Kokiji

Kokiji, nestled deep in the mountains of Kanan-cho, Osaka, is said to have been founded by the ascetic En-no-Gyoja at the imperial behest of Emperor Monmu. The monk Kukai visited during the Konin era (810-824) and, upon receiving a vision of the Bodhisattva Kokitokuoh, renamed the temple. So renowned for its spiritual power that Emperor Godaigo commissioned prayers to subdue the Kamakura shogunate, the temple reached new heights in 1776 when monk Jion Daishi entered, establishing it as the head temple of the Shoboritsukokiji sect and a center for Shingon Vinaya and Sanskrit scholarship. Designated a historical site by Osaka Prefecture, it preserves Important Cultural Properties including a wooden Benzaiten statue and a gilt-bronze five-pronged bell.