Kokawadera Temple

On the border between Osaka and Wakayama is the Izumi Mountain Chain. Just at the foot of those high mountains is Kokawadera Temple, one of the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage. Together with Negoro-ji Temple and Kimii-dera, it is one of the most famous temples in north Wakayama.

Temple Grounds

Getting off at Kokawa Station of JR Wakayama Line, Kokawa Tonmaka Street runs straight to the temple from the station. Tanmaka, held in Kokawa, is one the most famous festival in the North Wakayama region. 

According to the Kokawa Engi-emaki (a handscroll about the temple’s origins), in 770 during a hunt, Ootomo no Kujiko found a stream of light in the forest and decided to build a hut next to it.

Later, a child, who would later grow up to be Donan Taishi, visited this hut and asked Kujiko to let him stay for a while, and he agreed. The next morning the child offered to carve a Buddha statue as a toke of gratuity. Seven days later, Kujiko went to check on the boy, only to find no trace of him!  In his place was a statue of Senju Kannon. Kujiko decided to enshrine the statue in his hut, which is today as Kokawadera Temple.

Over time, Kokawadera Temple became a popular temple and earned a spot on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

Along the path to the main building, the hondo, are many interesting buildings.

In 1585 Kokawadera Temple joined forces with Negoro-ji Temple to fight against Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Unfortunately, they lost this war, leading the temple to ashes. Currently, the oldest building at the temple is the one rebuilt by the 8th shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune in Edo Period.  

Right in front of its hondo, the famous rock garden of Kokawa Temple may hold your attention. It uses the large rocks from Wakayama.

Hondo

The hondo of is huge!  Without a doubt, this temple’s hondo is the biggest of the temples in the  Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

Unfortunately, Kokawadera’s main statue is never open to the public. While many temples in the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage usually allow the public to view their main statues when they celebrate their 1,000 years anniversary for some reason, Kokawadera Temple didn’t.

In such a case, many temples put replicas called Omaedachi, so that people can feel what the main statue is like, but in Kokawadera Temple, even Omaedachi is not open to the public. Therefore, it is a completely mystery what the main statue is like…

Kokawadera Temple