Osu Kannon Temple, Nagoya (must see)

Ōsu Kannon, or Kitanosan Shinpuku-ji Hōshō-in, is a Buddhist temple of the Shingon sect located in Ōsu in central Nagoya. It belongs to the Owari Thirty-three Kannon. The temple was originally built in about the year 1333 in Ōsu-gō, Nagaoka village in Owari Province, which is currently known as the city of Hashima in Gifu Prefecture. Construction was sponsored by the Emperor Go-Daigo, who appointed Shōnin Nōshin as the first head priest. Nōshin had a vision in a dream of Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion, known as Kannon in Japanese. Hence, the name Ōsu (from Ōsu-gō) Kannon.

Due to repeated flooding, the temple was moved to its present location in 1612 by Tokugawa Ieyasu. In the 1820s, large parts of the temple were destroyed by fire, but it was rebuilt in the 1970s. The main hall has a very large, red paper lantern hanging from the ceiling where worshippers can tie small paper notes with wishes to the holding wires.

The current temple is home to a large collection of books. It houses about 15,000 classic Japanese and Chinese works. Among these is the oldest hand-written copy of the famous Kojiki, describing the ancient mythological history of Japan. The library also has many other books designated as national treasures and important cultural properties. A street fair is held on the 18th day of each month. The nearest subway is Ōsu Kannon Station.