Nyoi-ji

Nyoi-ji temple in the verdant Haze valley of Kobe's Nishi Ward traces its origin to 645, when the legendary monk Hodo enshrined Jizo Bosatsu and Bishamonten on Mount Hikin. Emperor Kotoku designated it an imperial votive temple, and at its height it encompassed twenty-four subtemples. In 851 the monk Ennin added a Monju Hall. After a period of decline, the nun Ganzai-ni revived the temple in the late 10th century. Three structures—the Amida Hall, Monju Hall, and three-story pagoda built in the Nanbokucho era—survive today as National Important Cultural Properties, bearing witness to centuries of continuous Tendai Buddhist practice.