医王寺

Overview

Io-ji is a Soto Zen temple in the Konohana district of Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture. Its mountain name is Shinnozan, and it enshrines Yakushi Nyorai, the Medicine Buddha, as its principal image. As the 43rd stop on the Mino Shin-Shikoku pilgrimage, it also holds a stone Bato Kannon dedicated to travel safety and a figure of Kobo Daishi that serves as the pilgrimage's site image. Though set within the city, the temple keeps alive the memory of the old Nakasendo highway.

Highlights

• ●A Soto Zen temple of Shinnozan enshrining the Medicine Buddha
• ●A stone Bato Kannon dedicated to safety on the Nakasendo
• ●The 43rd Mino Shin-Shikoku site, home to a figure of Kobo Daishi
• ●A history of patronage by Matsudaira Mitsunaga, lord of Kano

History

The temple was founded in 1668, when the priest Ryonen Gencho of Kano Zenkyu-in was invited to establish it. Its second abbot, Mumyo Taiko, became head priest under the patronage of Matsudaira Mitsunaga, lord of the Kano domain. In 1941 the temple was lost to a fire that spread from elsewhere, and its present buildings date from the reconstruction that followed. Standing close to the Nakasendo highway, it has long been tied to prayers for safe travel along the road.

Map

35.4108, 136.7375 · Wikidata

Suggested itinerary

1. 1Head to Io-ji in Konohana from around Gifu Station
2. 2Pray before the Medicine Buddha at Shinnozan Io-ji
3. 3Pay respects to the stone Bato Kannon and to Kobo Daishi
4. 4Round out the day with a walk through Nakasendo-linked Gifu

Did you know?

💡 Because the temple lies near the Nakasendo highway, a stone figure of Bato Kannon, dedicated to safety on the road, still stands in its precincts. A figure of Kobo Daishi is also enshrined here as the site image of the Mino Shin-Shikoku pilgrimage, making this a temple where highway devotion and pilgrimage overlap.

Nearby spots