Find Buddhist Spots
A connection with a Buddha image may appear unexpectedly. Search for places that may lead you to your own My Buddha.
Hirashimizu Kannon (Koryuji Temple)
Buddhist Image Juichimen Kannon Bosatsu Category Bosatsu (Bodhisattva)
95 Hirashimizu, Yamagata, Yamagata, Japan
Visiting Status Usually open to visitors / Pilgrimage office generally 8:00–17:00; may close at 16:00 from October onward / Please check direct viewing of the principal image
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Hirashimizu Kannon, the sixth temple of the Mogami Thirty-Three Kannon Pilgrimage, stands at the foot of Mount Chitose in Yamagata. Its principal image is an Eleven-Headed Kannon traditionally attributed to the sculptor Kasuga and brought from Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto. According to temple tradition, Minamoto no Yoriyoshi prayed to Kiyomizu Kannon for victory during his northern campaign and, after his wish was fulfilled, enshrined the image at Hirashimizu. The quiet pottery village and the gentle mountain landscape give this ancient warrior’s vow a peaceful and deeply local setting.
Ochi Kannon (Kannonji Temple)
Buddhist Image Juichimen Kannon Bosatsu Category Bosatsu (Bodhisattva)
2494-1 Shibahashi, Sagae, Yamagata, Japan
Visiting Status Usually open to visitors / Please check in advance whether the principal image can be viewed directly
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Ochimo Kannon is the 15th temple of the Mogami Thirty-Three Kannon Pilgrimage. Tradition credits the poet Ono no Komachi with founding the sanctuary after a heavenly maiden dropped a robe through purple clouds and an Eleven-Headed Kannon appeared upon it. Komachi is also said to have enshrined her own protective Kannon here. When the hall burned in 1903, the principal image reportedly survived unharmed, and the present hall was rebuilt that same year. Long revered for the safety of sericulture as well as the fulfillment of wishes, the temple preserves a distinctive meeting of poetry, legend, livelihood, and faith.
Komatsuzawa Kannon (Shojoin Temple)
Buddhist Image Sho Kannon Bosatsu Category Bosatsu (Bodhisattva)
6500 Komatsuzawa, Murayama, Yamagata, Japan
Visiting Status Usually open to visitors / Pilgrimage office generally 8:00–17:00; may close at 16:00 from October onward / Please check direct viewing of the principal image
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Komatsuzawa Kannon Hall stands deep in the mountains of Murayama as the 20th temple of the Mogami Thirty-Three Kannon Pilgrimage. Its principal image is Shō Kannon, traditionally attributed to Gyōki, and the image has long been worshipped together with Amida and Yakushi Buddhas as the Iwa-no-ue Sansho Gongen, the Three Manifestations upon the Rock. Beyond the mountain approach and 164 stone steps, the hall preserves mukasari ema—votive paintings of posthumous weddings offered for people who died unmarried. Far from the village, Kannon devotion and deeply personal memorial prayers remain quietly rooted in the mountain.
Honmyoji Temple
Buddhist Image Honmyokai Shonin (Sokushinbutsu) Category Other
388 Uchino, Higashiiwamoto, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, Japan
Visiting Status Reservation required / Apply by phone between 9:00 and 17:00 / Admission ¥500; free for high school students and younger
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Honmyō-ji’s Sokushinbutsu Hall enshrines Honmyōkai Shōnin, regarded as the oldest of the six surviving self-mummified ascetics in the Shōnai region. Born in 1623, he undertook one thousand days without the five grains, another thousand days without the ten grains, and further severe austerities before entering underground meditation in 1683 at the age of sixty-one. According to temple tradition, he was exhumed three years and three months later and found to have become a sokushinbutsu. His meditation mound remains beside the hall, preserving the physical setting of a life offered in prayer for others.
Zokoin Temple
Buddhist Image Komyokai Shonin (Sokushinbutsu) Category Other
544-1 Kurogamo, Shirataka, Nishiokitama District, Yamagata, Japan
Visiting Status Reservation required / Viewing unavailable during memorial services or funerals; call in advance
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Zōkō-in, a Sōtō Zen temple in the mountain settlement of Kurokamo, enshrines the sokushinbutsu of the Mount Yudono ascetic Kōmyōkai Shōnin. Local tradition tells of a practitioner who entered final meditation after requesting that his body be unearthed one hundred years later so that he might become a sokushinbutsu. The body was subsequently excavated on the basis of that account. Surrounded by a mountain stream and deep greenery, the quiet main hall preserves a distinctive form of faith passed down in the Okitama region, together with the memory of an ascetic who sought the salvation of others.
Sabaneyama Jizo
Buddhist Image Jizo Bosatsu Category Bosatsu (Bodhisattva)
2981 Funagata, Funagata, Mogami District, Yamagata, Japan
Visiting Status Seasonal viewing / Late April to late November, 9:00–16:00 / In winter, open only December 31–January 3
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Sabaneyama Jizōson, counted among Japan’s Three Great Jizō sanctuaries, stands at a historic mountain pass between Funagata and Obanazawa. Its principal image is a tiny Jizō only 5.8 centimeters high, said to have been worn on the helmet of the warrior Numazawa Shinzaemon as a protective image. The site became the final temple of the Mogami Forty-Eight Jizō Pilgrimage and attracts prayers for good relationships, children, safe childbirth, health, and longevity. The hidden image is unveiled in Years of the Ox, when the small figure reveals the remarkable scale of devotion entrusted to it.
Sasano Kannon (Kotokuin Temple)
Buddhist Image Senju Kannon Bosatsu Category Bosatsu (Bodhisattva)
5686-5 Sasanohoncho, Yonezawa, Yamagata, Japan
Visiting Status Usually open to visitors / Temple grounds are free; check in advance for direct viewing of the principal image
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Sasano Kannon Hall, the 19th temple of the Okitama Thirty-Three Kannon Pilgrimage, enshrines Senju Sengen Kannon (Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Kannon). Rebuilt in 1843 under the patronage of Uesugi Narinori, the hall was designated a National Important Cultural Property in January 2026. Its massive thatched roof and richly carved open outer sanctuary represent the finest late-Edo temple architecture of the Okitama region. Around two thousand hydrangeas bloom in summer, while the nearby tradition of Sasano ittobori carving continues the close relationship between Kannon devotion and local craftsmanship.
Kunomoto Kannon (Kannonji Temple)
Buddhist Image Juichimen Kannon Bosatsu Category Bosatsu (Bodhisattva)
2047 Kunomoto, Nagai, Yamagata, Japan
Visiting Status Usually open to visitors / Please check in advance whether the principal image can be viewed directly
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Kunomoto Kannon Hall is the fifth temple of the Okitama Thirty-Three Kannon Pilgrimage. Its principal image is a standing Eleven-Headed Kannon approximately five shaku—about 1.5 meters—high, traditionally said to have been carved by Saichō from a sacred tree during the Heian period. After an earlier hall was destroyed by fire, the image was reportedly discovered among the ruins. It has since been revered for driving away epidemics and other misfortunes and for bringing good fortune. In the cedar-shaded precinct, the surviving Kannon embodies compassion preserved through calamity.
Hoshakuin Temple
Buddhist Image Juichimen Kannon Bosatsu Category Bosatsu (Bodhisattva)
136 Sushiarai, Yamagata, Yamagata, Japan
Visiting Status Special unveilings only / Usually January 1 and August 10 / Normally closed; confirm before visiting
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Hōshaku-in’s Kannon Hall enshrines a National Important Cultural Property standing Eleven-Headed Kannon made in the early Heian period. The refined image is 51.5 centimeters high and was carved largely from a single block of kaya wood, extending from the crowning Buddha through the body to the lotus core, with the smaller heads and parts of the arms attached separately. Its flowing drapery, balanced proportions, and elegant expression exemplify early-Heian central Japanese sculpture. Particularly rare is the crowning Buddha represented with the upper body rather than only the face, giving this small image a distinctive iconographic presence.