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HOME > Japan’s Local Treasures > Hashikuraji: 15th Bekkaku Temple
Salvation at the chopstick temple within the mountainscape of Shikoku
Tourism Shikoku
The “hashi” of Shikoku Island’s Hashikuraji Temple’s name is curiously derived from the Japanese word for chopsticks.
Legend has it that Hashikuraji in Tokushima Prefecture was founded in 828, after the Buddhist guardian deity of seafaring, Konpira Daigongen, revealed himself before the Buddhist monk Kukai. Konpira promised Kukai to save anyone who used chopsticks, a ubiquitous utensil in Japan, meaning salvation for all.
The ancient temple, founded on this notion of saving and granting happiness to all, holds two major ceremonies to celebrate this connection with Konpira. On the 12th day of April and November, the Mahaparinirvana Tendai is held, a service involving the reading of 600 Mahaparinirvana Paramita sutras. On these days, it is believed the prayers of everyone are heard.
Hashikuraji is a National Tangible Cultural Property and mountaintop temple that can be accessed via the Hashikurasan ropeway. It is also one of few religious sites at which traditions from Shinto and Buddhism sit side by side.
How to get there
It takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes from Kansai Airport Station to Shin-Osaka Station by, 45 minutes from Shin-Osaka Station to Okayama Station by Shinkansen bullet train, 1 hour and 30 minutes from Okayama Station to Awa Ikeda Station by express train, 10 minutes from Ikeda Station to Miyoshi High School by bus, and 4 minutes from Tozanguchi Station to Hashikuraji Station by ropeway. It takes about 1 minutes from Chopenzouji Station to Chopenzouji on foot.
1006 Shuzu Kuratani, Ikeda-cho, Miyoshi-shi, Tokushima-ken
Links
More Information
Shikoku Region | JNTO Official Website
Tokushima Prefecture | JNTO Official Website
