Jokoji

This ancient temple of the Rinzai Nanzenji sect, bearing the mountain name Hatsuhinzan, stands in Honmachi, Yao, Osaka. According to tradition, it was founded during the Konin era (810–824) and houses a principal image of Jizo Bosatsu attributed to the scholar-bureaucrat Ono no Takamura. Known popularly as Yao Jizo, it serves as a sub-temple of Kinchiin, a sub-temple of Nanzenji. Beside the temple gate stands a remnant stone from Osaka Castle alongside a marker proclaiming it the birthplace of the oldest ondo folk dance in Kawachi. Within the grounds lie the graves of Todo clan soldiers who fell in the Siege of Osaka.