nishi gan dono tera

Saiganden-ji is an ancient Tendai sect temple located in Kurokawa, Aso City, Kumamoto Prefecture. It bears the mountain name Asosan and holds one of the highest ranks among Tendai temples in Kyushu. Long serving as the betto-ji (administrative temple) of Aso Shrine during the era of syncretic Shinto-Buddhist practice, it functioned as the central base for ascetic Shugendo practice in the mountains of Aso. Though the main hall was destroyed by fire in 2001 leaving only its foundation stones, ancient Japanese cypress and ginkgo trees stand at the site, silently bearing witness to centuries of devotion.