Seiganji Temple

Shojo zan-Seiganji Temple is located in Uoyamachi and belongs to the Seizan school of the Jodo sect.

The founder, Kakuzan-tenyo, was the son of Yoshiteru Ashikaga, the 13th Shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate(1336-1573). He escaped to Seiganji Temple in Kyoto when his
father was killed by Hisahide Matsunaga and became a Buddhist monk to mourn his father’s bodhisattva.
Kakuzan-tenyo founded the Seiganji Temple during the Tensho era (1573-1592) under the care of Hideharu Hatano, the lord of Yakami Castle in Tambasasayama. In 1610, it was moved to current location.
The temple has a four-legged gate with a multi-story hip-and-gabled roof, Irimoya-zukuri, covered with Hon-gawara tiles. The gate is single swing and 1.8 meters wide.
The wooden combination construction method that does not use a single nail is very impressive.

The principal image of Amitabha, or Amida-Nyorai, is said to have been made by Hodo Sennin 1400 years ago, and was located at Fukusenji Temple in Hata district. The first elementary school in Tambasasayama, ‘Chishinkan’, was opened on April 20th in 1873, using the Seiganji Temple building.
It became the origin of today’s Sasayama Elementary School.

Basic information