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Daishizan Seidaiji Temple (Echizen Daibutsu)
Buddhist Image Seated Vairocana Buddha Category Nyorai (Tathagata)
福井県勝山市片瀬50字1-1
Visiting Status Open for regular viewing during temple hours (winter hours differ)
SolemnityPowerDignity
Enshrined in Seidaiji’s Great Buddha Hall, this seated Vairocana Buddha is the temple’s principal image. Seidaiji was completed in 1987, and the Buddha was modeled on the colossal seated image at Fengxian Temple in China’s Longmen Grottoes. The bronze statue is 17 meters high. The hall’s walls are lined with a total of 1,281 stone and gilt Buddhist figures, with large arhat and bodhisattva figures flanking the main image. Regular viewing is available from 8:00 to 17:00, and from 9:00 to 16:00 in winter (January–March).
Myotsuji Temple
Buddhist Image Seated Yakushi Nyorai Category Nyorai (Tathagata)
福井県小浜市門前5-21
Visiting Status Regular viewing available (9:00–17:00; until 16:30 from December through February)
RefinementStillnessDepth
The principal image of Myotsuji Temple’s Main Hall is a wooden seated Yakushi Nyorai from the late Heian period. The 144.5 cm statue was carved from a single piece of cypress. It holds a medicine jar on its left palm and forms the varada mudra with its right hand, and is designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan. In the National Treasure Main Hall, it is flanked by the late-Heian standing Gozanze Myoo and Jinja Daisho; all three can normally be viewed during temple hours.
Myotsuji Temple
Buddhist Image Standing Gozanze Myo-o Category Myo-o (Wisdom King)
福井県小浜市門前5-21
Visiting Status Regular viewing available (9:00–17:00; until 16:30 from December through February)
PowerTense PresenceDignity
This wooden standing Gozanze Myoo stands beside the principal Yakushi Nyorai in Myotsuji Temple’s Main Hall. Dating to the late Heian period, it is 252.4 cm high, carved from a single piece of cypress, and designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan. The figure has four faces and eight arms, with raised hair, wide-open eyes and exposed fangs, and forms the distinctive Gozanze mudra before its chest. It can normally be viewed inside the National Treasure Main Hall during temple hours.
Myotsuji Temple
Buddhist Image Standing Jinja Daisho Category Tenbu (Deva)
福井県小浜市門前5-21
Visiting Status Regular viewing available (9:00–17:00; until 16:30 from December through February)
MysteryPowerDignity
This wooden standing Jinja Daisho stands beside the principal Yakushi Nyorai in Myotsuji Temple’s Main Hall. Dating to the late Heian period, it is 256.6 cm high, carved from a single piece of cypress, and designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan. The fierce figure grasps a snake in its left hand, raises a halberd in its right, and bears a skull on its head. Jinja Daisho is revered as a protective deity of the Great Prajnaparamita Sutra, and can normally be viewed inside the National Treasure Main Hall during temple hours.
Hagaji Temple
Buddhist Image Standing Eleven-Faced Kannon Bosatsu Category Bosatsu (Bodhisattva)
福井県小浜市羽賀83-5
Visiting Status Regular viewing available (9:00–16:00)
NobilityPurityRefinement
The principal image of Hagaji Temple’s Main Hall is a wooden standing Eleven-Faced Kannon from the early Heian period. The 146.4 cm statue was carved from a single piece of cypress and is designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan. It bears eleven faces above its head, holds a vase with a lotus in its left hand, and forms the abhaya mudra with its right. Because it was long kept as a secret Buddha, vivid coloring survives, and tradition holds that it was modeled on Empress Gensho. It can now normally be viewed from 9:00 to 16:00.
Myorakuji Temple
Buddhist Image Standing Thousand-Armed Kannon Bosatsu Category Bosatsu (Bodhisattva)
福井県小浜市野代28-13
Visiting Status Regular viewing available (9:00–16:30)
MysterySolemnityRefinement
The principal image of Myorakuji Temple’s Main Hall is a wooden standing Thousand-Armed Kannon from the middle Heian period. The 176.3 cm statue was carved from a single piece of cypress and is designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan. It has twenty-four faces in all, combining the main face, side faces and those above the head, and unlike the common forty-two-armed form, it uses layers of large and small arms to represent an actual thousand hands. Because it was long kept as a secret Buddha, much of its coloring and gilding survives. It can now normally be viewed from 9:00 to 16:30.
Tadaji Temple
Buddhist Image Standing Yakushi Nyorai Category Nyorai (Tathagata)
福井県小浜市多田29-6
Visiting Status Regular viewing available (9:00–16:00; reservation required December–February)
WarmthPeacefulnessDepth
The principal image of Tadaji Temple’s Main Hall is a wooden standing Yakushi Nyorai from the early Heian period. The 192.5 cm statue was carved from a single piece of cypress and is designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan. It represents an early form of Yakushi without a medicine jar, with the left hand forming the varada mudra and the right the abhaya mudra. The temple is affectionately known for prayers for recovery from eye ailments as “Tada no O-Yakushi-san.” Regular viewing is available from 9:00 to 16:00, while reservations are required from December through February.
Enshoji Temple
Buddhist Image Seated Dainichi Nyorai Category Nyorai (Tathagata)
福井県小浜市尾崎22-15
Visiting Status Regular viewing available (9:00–18:00; until 17:00 from November through April)
SolemnityPeacefulnessNobility
Enshoji Temple’s principal image, a wooden seated Dainichi Nyorai, is enshrined in the Dainichido Hall. Dating to the early 12th century in the late Heian period, the 251.5 cm statue is made of cypress in joined-block construction and is designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan. It is the Womb Realm Dainichi Nyorai, forming the hokkai-jo-in meditation mudra before the abdomen. Its broad knees and gently downcast expression give the large figure a calm, stable presence. Regular viewing is available from 9:00 to 18:00, and until 17:00 from November through April.
Wakasa Kokubunji Temple
Buddhist Image Shaka Nyorai Category Nyorai (Tathagata)
福井県小浜市国分53-1
Visiting Status Advance confirmation recommended (9:00–17:00; reservation required December–February)
SolemnityDignityDepth
The Shakado Hall of Wakasa Kokubunji enshrines a wooden seated Shaka Nyorai measuring 318 cm high with a knee width of 237 cm, one of the largest Buddhist statues in Fukui Prefecture and a designated cultural property of Obama City. Built in joined-block construction, the body is thought to date from the Kamakura period while the head is from the Edo period. The present Shakado Hall was rebuilt in 1705. Viewing is normally available from 9:00 to 17:00, but advance confirmation is recommended because the priest is often away on temple duties; reservations are required from December through February.
Wakasa Kokubunji Temple
Buddhist Image Seated Yakushi Nyorai Category Nyorai (Tathagata)
福井県小浜市国分53-1
Visiting Status Advance confirmation recommended (9:00–17:00; reservation required December–February)
GentlenessPeacefulnessRefinement
Wakasa Kokubunji preserves a wooden seated Yakushi Nyorai dating from the late Heian to early Kamakura period. The 79.7 cm joined-block statue is designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan. It is a standard Yakushi form, with the right hand in the abhaya mudra and the left in the varada mudra supporting a medicine jar. An inscription inside the knee area shows that by 1693 it was enshrined as the principal image of a nunnery hermitage. Viewing is normally available from 9:00 to 17:00, with advance confirmation recommended; reservations are required from December through February.
Mantokuji Temple
Buddhist Image Seated Amida Nyorai Category Nyorai (Tathagata)
福井県小浜市金屋74-23
Visiting Status Regular viewing available (8:30–17:00)
PeacefulnessNobilityStillness
The principal image of Mantokuji Temple’s Main Hall is a wooden seated Amida Nyorai from the Heian period. The 141.5 cm statue is designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Wearing a monastic robe that leaves the right shoulder bare, it forms the upper-grade lower-birth raigo mudra and sits in lotus posture on a rectangular draped pedestal. The statue was originally the principal image of Gokurakuji, the temple’s predecessor. Together with the nationally designated dry-landscape garden, it can normally be viewed from 8:30 to 17:00.
Magoji Temple
Buddhist Image Seated Bato Kannon Bosatsu Category Bosatsu (Bodhisattva)
福井県大飯郡高浜町馬居寺3-1
Visiting Status Secret Buddha (full unveiling scheduled for October 17–18, 2026)
MysteryPowerDepth
Magoji Temple’s principal image is a wooden seated Bato Kannon from the late Heian period. The 100.3 cm statue is carved from cypress using split-and-hollowed single-block construction and is designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan. It has three faces and eight arms, forms the Bato mudra before the chest, and sits with the right knee raised and the sole of the left foot visible. Although Bato Kannon is shown in a wrathful form, this image has a notably gentle expression. A full unveiling is held once every 24 years, with an interim unveiling every 12 years; the next full unveiling is scheduled for October 17 and 18, 2026.
Nakayamadera Temple
Buddhist Image Seated Bato Kannon Bosatsu Category Bosatsu (Bodhisattva)
福井県大飯郡高浜町中山27-2
Visiting Status Secret Buddha (unveiling scheduled for May 30–October 24, 2027)
PowerMysteryNobility
The principal image of Nakayamadera Temple’s Main Hall is a wooden seated Bato Kannon from the Kamakura period. The 79.3 cm statue is made of cypress in joined-block construction, has inlaid crystal eyes, and is designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan. It has three faces and eight arms, bears a horse head above the crown, forms the Bato mudra before the chest, and sits with the right knee slightly raised and both soles visible. Its skillful realism suggests a sculptor of the orthodox Nanto tradition. This secret Buddha is the principal image of the first temple on the Hokuriku Thirty-Three Kannon Pilgrimage and is scheduled to be unveiled from May 30 through October 24, 2027.
Tadaji Temple
Buddhist Image Wooden Standing Eleven-Faced Kannon Bosatsu (Traditionally Nikko Bosatsu) Category Bosatsu (Bodhisattva)
福井県小浜市多田29-6
Visiting Status Regular viewing available (9:00–16:00; reservation required December–February)
NobilityGentlenessRefinement
In Tadaji Temple’s Main Hall, this wooden standing Eleven-Faced Kannon Bosatsu is enshrined as an attendant to the principal Yakushi Nyorai and is traditionally identified as Nikko Bosatsu. Dating from the late 8th to early 9th century, in the early Heian period, the 154.0 cm statue was carved from a single piece of cypress and is designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Its eleven faces crown a notably gentle expression, with a slight smile in the eyes and lips that has earned it the nickname “Mona Lisa of Wakasa.” It is enshrined in the same cabinet as Yakushi Nyorai and can normally be viewed from 9:00 to 16:00; reservations are required from December through February.
Enshoji Temple
Buddhist Image Wooden Standing Fudo Myo-o Category Myo-o (Wisdom King)
福井県小浜市尾崎22-15
Visiting Status Regular viewing available (9:00–17:00)
PowerDignityTense Presence
Enshrined beside the principal Dainichi Nyorai in Enshoji Temple’s Dainichido Hall, this wooden standing Fudo Myoo dates to the 12th century, at the end of the Heian period. The 158.7 cm statue is made of cypress in joined-block construction and is designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Standing on a rocky pedestal before a flame halo, it holds a sword in the right hand and a rope in the left. Its head turns diagonally down to the left while the left foot steps forward, giving the taut body a strong sense of movement and power. It can now normally be viewed from 9:00 to 17:00.
Daihonzan Eiheiji Temple
Buddhist Image Shaka Nyorai Category Nyorai (Tathagata)
福井県吉田郡永平寺町志比5-15
Visiting Status Regular viewing available (8:30–16:30; admission until 16:00; seasonal changes may apply)
SolemnityStillnessDepth
The principal image of Eiheiji’s Butsuden, the central hall of the seven-hall monastic complex, is Shakyamuni Buddha. Shakyamuni is enshrined at the center of the altar, with Maitreya Buddha of the future to the right and Amida Buddha of the past to the left, forming a triad of Buddhas of the three times at the heart of the Zen training monastery. Eiheiji was founded in 1244 by Dogen Zenji and remains one of the head temples of the Soto school, where monks continue to train today. The Butsuden is included in the general visitor route and can normally be visited from 8:30 to 16:30, with admission until 16:00.
Takidanji Temple
Buddhist Image Yakushi Nyorai Category Nyorai (Tathagata)
福井県坂井市三国町滝谷1-7-15
Visiting Status Regular viewing available (8:00–17:00; until 16:30 from November through February)
PeacefulnessDepthStillness
Takidanji Temple’s Main Hall enshrines Yakushi Nyorai as its principal image. The image has been transmitted at Mikuni’s oldest temple, founded in 1375 during the Northern and Southern Courts period, and tradition attributes it to the monk Taicho. The precincts include the Main Hall, Kannon Hall and other buildings designated Important Cultural Properties, while the treasure hall displays temple treasures including the National Treasure gilt-bronze gong with engraved floral design. Yakushi remains the focus of worship today, and the temple is normally open from 8:00 to 17:00, and until 16:30 from November through February.
Isokuji Temple
Buddhist Image Wooden Standing Eleven-Faced Thousand-Armed Kannon Bosatsu Category Bosatsu (Bodhisattva)
福井県大飯郡おおい町万願寺7-5
Visiting Status Advance confirmation required (contact the temple for viewing hours)
MysterySolemnityNobility
Isokuji Temple’s principal image is a wooden standing Eleven-Faced Thousand-Armed Kannon from the late Heian period. The 109 cm statue is designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan. It bears a Buddha face at the top of the coiffure and ten bodhisattva faces above the crown, while forty-two arms represent the thousand arms of Kannon. A manuscript of the Senju Sengen Dharani Sutra was found inside the statue and is also included in the cultural-property designation. The image has remained the temple’s principal object of worship since the temple was moved to its present site in the early Edo period. The viewing fee is 500 yen, and viewing hours should be confirmed in advance.
Mikata Ishi Kanzeon
Buddhist Image Sho Kannon Bosatsu (Rock-Carved Image) Category Bosatsu (Bodhisattva)
福井県三方上中郡若狭町三方22-1
Visiting Status Secret Buddha (special opening October 16–20, 2026; regular worship hours 8:00–16:00)
MysteryWarmthDepth
The principal image of Mikata Ishi Kanzeon is Sho Kannon Bosatsu, carved in lines directly onto the face of a massive rock. Tradition says Kobo Daishi attempted to carve the image in a single night but stopped when he heard a rooster announce dawn, leaving the tip of the right hand unfinished; the image is therefore also known as the “One-Handed Kannon.” After a Kannon hall was built in the Bunka era of the Edo period, the image became a secret Buddha and has drawn prayers for healing ailments of the hands, feet and body. Regular worship hours are 8:00–16:00, and the once-in-33-years opening will be held October 16–20, 2026.
Gekkoji Temple
Buddhist Image Bronze Great Buddha Category Other
福井県越前市南1-2-12
Visiting Status Advance confirmation required (viewed inside the Main Hall; contact the temple for hours)
SolemnityPeacefulnessDepth
Gekkoji Temple’s Main Hall houses a bronze Great Buddha measuring about 5.5 meters from the lotus pedestal to the top of the head. It was erected in 1847 to memorialize people who died in the great famine of the Tempo era (1830–1844). Around 500 stones inscribed with ancestors’ memorial names are said to have been found inside the statue, preserving the memory of local prayers for the dead. The image can be seen at close range inside the Main Hall, but visitors are advised to confirm viewing hours with the temple in advance.