Yamadera Risshakuji Temple

Yamadera Risshakuji is a Tendai-sect temple in Yamadera, Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture. Its mountain name is Hojusan, and the principal image is Yakushi Nyorai. Temple tradition records its founding in Jogan 2 (860 CE) by Jikaku Daishi Ennin (794-864, third head of Tendai, disciple of Saicho) under imperial command of Emperor Seiwa. The temple complex clings to the volcanic-tuff cliffs of Mount Hoju (417 m), with 1,015 stone steps leading from the foot to the inner sanctum. The Konpon Chudo (Important Cultural Property) houses the Yakushi Triad of the Heian period. Within the precinct stands a Sanno Shrine to Oyamakui-no-Kami (recorded in Kojiki as a descendant of Otoshi-no-Kami and the tutelary deity of Mount Hiei) and Omononushi-no-Kami (recorded in Kojiki as a manifestation of Okuninushi), expressing the Tendai pattern of Shinto-Buddhist coexistence. In Genroku 2 (1689), Matsuo Basho visited and composed his celebrated haiku here, recorded in Oku no Hosomichi. The entire precinct was designated a National Historic Site and Place of Scenic Beauty in 1934.