Taiyuji Temple, Osaka

The Taiyuji Temple is located in the busy Kita-ku area of Osaka. It is a Buddhist temple and an oasis of calm amidst the bustling city surrounded by high rise buildings.

The Taiyuji Temple is dedicated to the Singon sect of Buddhism. It was founded by Kukai in 821 and the principal deity is the thousand armed Goddess, Kannon. The statue of the deity was a present by the Emperor Saga. His son expanded the temple and had a full scale Buddhist temple built surrounded by beautiful gardens. The temple burned down during the battle between Hideyoshi Toyotomi and the Tokugawa Shoguns. The temple complex was rebuilt during the Edo period and again destroyed during the World War II bombardments. The present building is a postwar construction.

The statue of the Goddess Kannon and that of the Deity Fudoumyouou escaped damage and remain enshrined in the Taiyuji Temple. A stone pagoda in the grounds is said to be the grave of a concubine of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, Lady Yodo who committed suicide after his defeat in the battle against the shoguns. A historical event that took place here was the beginning of the democratic movement of Japan. Itagaki Taisuke and his followers met here in 1880 before launching the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement nationwide that resulted in forcing the Meiji Government to establish a National Diet or parliament and a Constitution.