1. Top page
  2. Articles
  3. The Complete Ennichi

The Complete Ennichi

Why does a buddha's sacred day fall when it does?

On temple notice boards and calendars you will see "Today is the ennichi of such-and-such a buddha." An ennichi is a day on which one is said to form a special bond with a particular buddha. Most recur every month: the 8th for Yakushi, the 18th for Kannon, the 24th for Jizō, the 28th for Fudō, the 30th for Śākyamuni. There are also several kinds with different origins, such as those tied to the rules of the calendar, the waxing and waning of the moon, or the memorial day of a founding master (the eminent monk who established a school). This essay first sets out the origins of the ennichi in a general discussion, dividing them into five lineages, and then traces the sacred days of the principal buddhas one by one in a series of particular discussions. It is an overview that confirms why each date falls when it does, going all the way back to the original passages of the scriptures.

 

  1. There are five lineages of ennichi
  2. Days of abstinence: the foundation of the ennichi (the six and ten days of abstinence, and the ten buddhas of abstinence)
    1. The beginning of the uposatha | the Vinaya, the Uposathakkhandhaka
    2. The six days of abstinence and the patrol of the Four Heavenly Kings | the Sūtra of the Four Heavenly Kings
    3. Why six days of abstinence? | the explanation of the *Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom*
    4. The "eight precepts of abstinence" kept on a day of abstinence | the Sūtra on Abstinence and others
    5. The merit of keeping a day of abstinence | rebirth into the heavens
    6. The three long months of abstinence and the eight royal days | abstinence on a yearly cycle
    7. The root authority for the ten days of abstinence | the *Sūtra of the Past Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva*
  3. The thirty hidden buddhas
    1. How the thirty hidden buddhas came to be
  4. Ennichi of the sexagenary cycle
  5. Ennichi of waiting for the moon and the sun
  6. Ennichi of founding masters and kami: based on days of remembrance
  7. Calendar of monthly ennichi (1st to 30th)
  8. The ennichi of the principal buddhas
  9. Frequently Asked Questions
  10. Nationwide Ennichi observance tour

Preface

There are five lineages of ennichi

"Why is Yakushi's day the 8th, and Jizō's the 24th?" There are indeed Buddhist reasons behind the dates of the ennichi. But the reason is not a single one. There are five kinds (lineages) with different origins, and every buddha's ennichi falls under one of them.

  1. Days of abstinence (sainichi)

    This is the oldest stratum, with direct scriptural authority. It began as the custom of restraining oneself on fixed days, called the uposatha (fusatsu); this was organized into the six and the ten days of abstinence, and each of the ten days was assigned a guardian buddha or bodhisattva. Jizō on the 24th and Yakushi on the 8th derive from the buddhas of these ten days of abstinence.

  2. The thirty hidden buddhas (sanjūnichi hibutsu)

    This is the assignment that extended the ten days of abstinence across all thirty days of a month, filling the empty days with buddha-names drawn from the Lotus Sutra. The greater part of the monthly ennichi calendar rests on this. It is not a table fixed by any sutra, but a calendar of devotion handed down in Zen circles that spread in the Muromachi period.

  3. Ennichi of the sexagenary cycle (eto)

    This is the stratum that sets the day by the rotation of the twelve branches. The Blue-Faced Vajra on the day of the Metal Monkey (kōshin), Mahākāla on the day of the Wood Rat (kinoe-ne), and the like: the sexagenary signs of the calendar are bound to the deities worshipped on those days.

  4. Ennichi of waiting for the moon and waiting for the sun (tsukimachi and himachi)

    This is the folk devotion of waiting for the waxing or waning moon, or for the sunrise, and praying. Seishi Bodhisattva was worshipped on the night of the twenty-third, Ākāśagarbha on the night of the thirteenth, and so the moon in the night sky was overlaid with a buddha.

  5. Days of remembrance (the memorial days of founding masters and kami)

    This is the stratum tied to the memorial days of the founding masters and eminent monks who established a school, or of the kami. The 21st for Kōbō Daishi (the Miei-ku) and the like: a day of remembrance for a person became an ennichi in its own right.

In what follows, Part One traces in turn how these five lineages set their dates, going back to the original passages of the scriptures; Part Two presents a ready-reference table of the monthly ennichi and examines the origins of each principal buddha's day, one deity at a time.

Part One: General Discussion

Why does the ennichi "deliberately" choose a day?

The ennichi did not exist in early Buddhism. Śākyamuni dismissed as delusion the practice of deciding one's conduct by lucky and unlucky days or by the movement of the stars. That the ennichi exists nonetheless is because the teaching of the Buddha was overlaid onto the rhythms of the calendar that people already kept. To make use of a fixed day as a "day to restrain oneself" or a "day to form a bond with a buddha": this is an expedient means (hōben) for guiding people.

Confirmed in the original sources

Buddhism does not establish "lucky and unlucky days" in the first place

Translation
Among other ascetics and brahmins there are those who live on the offerings of the faithful yet sustain themselves by wrong livelihoods that obstruct the path. They divine the fortune and the looks of men and women, read the marks of livestock, and seek gain thereby. ... Those who have entered my teaching do not do such things.
Original text

如餘沙門、婆羅門食他信施、行遮道法、邪命自活、瞻相男女吉凶好醜、及相畜生、以求利養……入我法者、無如是事。

Commentary
Divination, geomancy, and the choosing of days were dismissed in Buddhism as "wrong livelihood" (jamyō, a corrupt way of making a living). It does not teach that a day in itself is lucky or unlucky. That the ennichi nevertheless arose in later ages was not to go against the teaching, but to bind devotion to the rhythms of people's lives and so make an occasion for meeting a buddha.
Source
*Dīrgha-āgama* (Chang ahan jing) (Taishō No. 1, translated by Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian, Later Qin). The passage dismissing divination and wrong livelihood.

For this reason, several principles for fixing the day coexist within the ennichi. None is the orthodox one and none a mere offshoot; each binds devotion to a buddha onto a calendar that originally lay outside Buddhism. In what follows we examine, in five parts, the principle and the scriptural basis of each: the days of abstinence (sainichi), the thirty hidden buddhas (sanjūnichi hibutsu), the sexagenary cycle (eto), waiting for the moon and the sun (tsukimachi and himachi), and the days of remembrance for founding masters (soshi) and kami.

縁日の五つの系統

仏教は本来、日に吉凶を立てないそれでも、人々の暦に信仰を重ねて「縁日」を立てた（方便）
↓
縁日（仏とご縁を結ぶ特別な日）
↓
日の決め方には、五つの系統があります。
1斎日六斎日・十斎日に仏を配する
2三十日秘仏30日に仏を配し、毎月の縁日へ
3干支十二支で日を決める
4月待・日待月の出を待って祈る
5ゆかりの日祖師・高僧の命日
縁日は、仏とご縁を結ぶ特別な日です。その日づけの決め方には、斎日・三十日秘仏・干支・月待や日待・ゆかりの日（祖師や高僧の命日）という五つの系統があります。

Lineage 1

Days of abstinence: the foundation of the ennichi (the six and ten days of abstinence, and the ten buddhas of abstinence)

The root of the ennichi numbers is the days of abstinence (sainichi). These are the days on which lay people, on fixed days of the month, keep the eight precepts of abstinence, refrain from killing, and accumulate good. Their source goes back to the uposatha (fusatsu) of Śākyamuni's own time. We draw on the scriptures that authorize them in turn. And it was the assignment of a buddha or bodhisattva to each of the ten days that produced the ten buddhas of abstinence, from which Jizō on the 24th and Yakushi on the 8th derive.

斎日が縁日になるまで

  1. 1布薩の日8・14・15日。在家が八斎戒を保ち、身をつつしむ
    ↓
  2. 2六斎日と四天王の巡察3日加わって8・14・15・23・29・30日に。四天王が人の善悪を見に降りて点検する日に、戒を保とうとする
    ↓
  3. 3十斎日と十斎日の仏さらに1・18・24・28日を加えた十日に、各日念ずる仏菩薩を配す。24日地蔵・8日薬師はここ
    ↓
  4. 4三十日秘仏1か月の30日すべてに広げ、空いた日を『法華経』所出の仏名で補う
    ↓
  5. 5各尊の縁日30日それぞれの仏が、毎月めぐる縁日として定着する

斎日が毎月の縁日へ育っていった順序。8・14・15日の布薩に始まり、23・29・30日を加えた六斎日（四天王が人を見に降りる、バラモン教由来の日）へ広がり、さらに十斎日と各日の仏（十斎日の仏）が配され、1か月の30日すべてに広げて『法華経』の仏名で補った三十日秘仏となり、30日それぞれの仏が毎月の縁日として定着した。

8・14・15日の布薩から、四天王が人を見に降りる六斎日へ広がり、十斎日と各日の仏が配され、30日すべてに広げて『法華経』の仏名で補った三十日秘仏となって、各尊の毎月の縁日として定着した順序です。これは考え方の展開を示すもので、どこで生まれたかをたどるものではありません。
1

The beginning of the uposatha

The beginning of the uposatha | the Vinaya, the Uposathakkhandhaka

The uposatha was Buddhism's adoption of a custom by which the religious of India had originally gathered on the new moon, the full moon, and the half moon (the eighth) to preach the Dharma.

The uposatha later grew, beyond mere assembly and preaching, into a fortnightly monastic rite for confirming the precepts, adding the recitation of the prātimokṣa (the articles of the precepts) and the confession of faults.

What matters here is that the 8th, 14th, and 15th, the core of the days of abstinence, appear in this origin account just as they are. The dates were not a revelation peculiar to Buddhism, but Buddhism's adoption of the widely observed fortnightly days of religious assembly of that time.

要点

The root of the ennichi is the "day on which all gather together" of Śākyamuni's time. That Buddhism inherited the custom of assembling at the turning points of the moon, the new moon, the full moon, and the half moon, was the starting point for the ennichi held on fixed days.

Confirmed in the original sources

The disciples of the Buddha, too, use the assembly days of the non-Buddhists

Translation
At that time the wandering ascetics of other sects would gather on the fourteenth, the fifteenth, and the eighth of the fortnight and preach the Dharma. King Bimbisāra of Magadha asked the Buddha whether his disciples, too, might gather on the same days. The Blessed One then addressed the monks: "I permit you to assemble on the fourteenth, the fifteenth, and the eighth."
Original text

Tena kho pana samayena aññatitthiyā paribbājakā cātuddase pannarase aṭṭhamiyā ca pakkhassa sannipatitvā dhammaṃ bhāsanti.

Atha kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi anujānāmi, bhikkhave, cātuddase pannarase aṭṭhamiyā ca pakkhassa sannipatitunti.

Source
Vinaya, Mahāvagga, "Uposathakkhandhaka" (The Chapter on the Uposatha).
2

The six days of abstinence and the patrol of the Four Heavenly Kings

The six days of abstinence and the patrol of the Four Heavenly Kings | the Sūtra of the Four Heavenly Kings

The Sūtra of the Four Heavenly Kings is the most systematic exposition of how the days of abstinence came to be fixed at six a month, and of the belief that on those days heaven watches over humankind. It is the matrix of all ennichi devotion.

Here the six days of abstinence are set out explicitly, namely the 8th, 14th, 15th, 23rd, 29th, and 30th of each month. It teaches that if one does good on these days, taking the threefold refuge, keeping the precepts, giving alms, and practicing filial care, one's lifespan is extended, one is guarded by good deities, and at death one is born into the heavens.

This very notion that heaven watches over humankind on particular days is the thought that runs beneath all later ennichi, down to the ten buddhas of abstinence, the thirty hidden buddhas, the waiting for the moon, and the Metal Monkey (kōshin) devotion. The three tiers of patrol, the ministers on the 8th, the princes on the 14th, and the Four Heavenly Kings themselves on the 15th, agree completely between the Chinese translation and the Pali.

要点

On the six days of abstinence each month, the 8th, 14th, 15th, 23rd, 29th, and 30th, the gods of heaven were said to make their rounds, watching over the conduct of human beings. So on these days one does good. Here lies the core of the ennichi idea of "doing something on a particular day."

月の満ち欠けと六斎日

月の満ち欠けと六斎日81415232930
白月（満ちてゆく前半・1〜15）黒月（欠けてゆく後半・16〜30）

六斎日

六斎日には、天の神々が人の行いを見回るとされました。月の満ち欠けの節目に当たります。

四天王の見回りと六斎日

天（忉利天）帝釈天

前半（白月）と後半（黒月）で、同じ三段の巡察がくり返されます。

  1. 8日・23日使者（四天王の臣下）↓
  2. 14日・29日太子（王子）↓
  3. 15日・30日四天王みずから↓
↑善悪を報告
人間界人の善し悪しを調べる

斎日に天が下界を見回る仕組み。上が天（忉利天・帝釈天）、下が人間界。使者（四天王の臣下）は8日と23日、太子は14日と29日、四天王みずからは15日と30日に天から人間界へ降りて人の善し悪しを調べ、帝釈天へ報告する。前半と後半で同じ巡察がくり返され、合わせて六斎日（8・14・15・23・29・30日）になる。

使者は8日と23日、太子は14日と29日、四天王みずからは15日と30日に下界へ降り、人の善し悪しを調べて帝釈天に報告するとされました。前半（白月）と後半（黒月）で同じ巡察がくり返され、合わせて六斎日（8・14・15・23・29・30日）になります。

Confirmed in the original sources

The six days on which the Four Heavenly Kings patrol good and evil

Translation
The Four Heavenly Kings belong to Indra as the kings of the four quarters, and each governs one direction. On the 8th of each month they send their messengers down to the world below to examine the good and evil in the thoughts, words, and deeds of all, from emperors and subjects down to the dragons and demons. On the 14th they send the princes; on the 15th the Four Heavenly Kings descend in person. On the 23rd the messengers descend again, on the 29th the princes again, and on the 30th the Four Kings again descend in person.
Original text

四天神王即因四鎮王也、各理一方、常以月八日遣使者下、案行天下、伺察帝王・臣民・龍鬼……

十四日遣太子下；十五日四天王自下；二十三日使者復下；二十九日太子復下；三十日四王復自下。

Source
*Sūtra of the Four Heavenly Kings* (Fo shuo si tianwang jing) (Taishō No. 590, translated by Jñānayaśas and Ratnamegha).

The same three-tiered patrol in the Pali original

Translation
Monks, on the eighth of the fortnight the ministers and attendants of the Four Great Kings range over this world; on the fourteenth the princes; on the fifteenth the Four Great Kings themselves range over this world, examining whether people honor their parents, keep the uposatha, and practice good.
Original text

Aṭṭhamiyaṃ, bhikkhave, pakkhassa catunnaṃ mahārājānaṃ amaccā pārisajjā imaṃ lokaṃ anuvicaranti …

Cātuddasiṃ puttā pannarase cattāro mahārājāno sāmaññeva imaṃ lokaṃ anuvicaranti …

Source
*Aṅguttara Nikāya*, Book of Threes, "Catumahārāja-sutta" (The Discourse on the Four Great Kings, AN 3.37).
3

Why six days of abstinence?

Why six days of abstinence? | the explanation of the *Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom*

Nāgārjuna's *Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom* goes a step further and explains the very number of the six days of abstinence.

The *Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom* explains why these six days by appeal to the pre-Buddhist Indian notion of days assigned to the gods. This is not the teaching of Buddhism itself, but a citation of belief from a non-Buddhist teaching (gedō), namely the Brahmanical (later Hindu) lineage. According to it, the most exalted of the gods, Maheśvara (Makeishura, the Great Sovereign God, that is, Śiva), governs the four days of the 8th, 14th, 23rd, and 29th, while the 15th of the full moon and the 30th of the month's end are days common to all the gods. These six, the four days of Maheśvara together with the two days common to all the gods, became the six days of abstinence just as they are (the 8th, 14th, 15th, 23rd, 29th, and 30th). On these days, it teaches, the gods and demons gain strength and bring calamity upon people, and so one restrains oneself and observes abstinence.

On top of this, the *Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom* adds its most important reservation: in the Buddha's Dharma a day is inherently neither lucky nor unlucky. The days assigned to the gods are no more than belief of the Brahmanical lineage; Buddhism neither denies nor venerates them, but teaches abstinence as an expedient means that follows the worldly notion of an unlucky day as a condition for guiding people toward the good. It is a perspective that must not be forgotten in speaking of the ennichi.

要点

The number six derives originally from a pre-Buddhist Indian, Brahmanical (later Hindu) notion of the days assigned to the gods. The *Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom* cites this and then emphasizes that "in Buddhism a day is inherently neither lucky nor unlucky." The ennichi neither denies nor worships non-Buddhist belief; it is an expedient means for guiding people toward the good.

Confirmed in the original sources

Abstinence as an expedient means for avoiding unlucky days

Translation
Question: Why does one receive the eight precepts and cultivate merit on the six days of abstinence? Answer: On these days evil demons pursue people, seeking to take their lives and to bring calamity. Therefore the sages at the beginning of the kalpa taught people to keep abstinence and accumulate good, so as to avoid disaster.
Original text

問曰、何以故六齋日受八戒、修福德？答曰、是日惡鬼逐人、欲奪人命……

是故劫初聖人、教人持齋、修善作福、以避凶衰。

Source
*Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom* (Da zhidu lun), fascicle 13 (Taishō No. 1509, composed by Nāgārjuna, translated by Kumārajīva).

In the Buddha's Dharma there is no good or ill in a day

Translation
In the Buddha's Dharma there is no good or ill in a day, yet following the worldly notion of an unlucky day as a condition, one is taught to keep abstinence and receive the eight precepts.
Original text

如佛法中、日無好惡、隨世惡日因緣故、教持齋受八戒。

Source
*Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom* (Da zhidu lun), fascicle 13 (Taishō No. 1509).
4

What are the eight precepts of abstinence?

The "eight precepts of abstinence" kept on a day of abstinence | the Sūtra on Abstinence and others

What a lay person keeps for a single day and night on a day of abstinence is the eight precepts of abstinence (the eight-limbed precepts of abstinence). The Chinese *Sūtra on Abstinence* enumerates these eight articles.

The eight precepts of abstinence are: not killing; not stealing (giving alms); abstaining from sexual conduct; not lying; not drinking intoxicants; not adorning oneself with flowers and perfumes or engaging in song and dance; not lying on a high, broad bed; and not eating at the wrong time (not eating after noon).

In the scriptures, each of the eight precepts of abstinence is recited in this form: "Just as a sage who has attained awakening (an arhat) keeps the precepts in this way throughout his life, so I too keep them in the same way for this one day and night alone." That is, what a renunciant keeps for a lifetime is here taken up by a lay person for a single day.

This phrasing agrees almost word for word from the Pali scriptures to the Chinese precept-formula. It shows that this custom of abstinence, in which a lay person spends a single day living purely like a renunciant, was transmitted from India to East Asia without change of form.

要点

What one keeps on a day of abstinence is the eight precepts of abstinence. They take the form of a lay person keeping, for a single day, the precepts that a renunciant keeps for life. This phrasing is nearly identical from India to East Asia, showing that the custom was transmitted along a single line.

八斎戒 ― 在家が保つ八つの戒

  1. 一不殺生ふせっしょう生きものを殺さない
  2. 二不偸盗ふちゅうとう盗まない
  3. 三不淫ふいん淫らな行いをしない
  4. 四不妄語ふもうご嘘をつかない
  5. 五不飲酒ふおんじゅ酒を飲まない
  6. 六華香・歌舞を離れる飾りや歌舞音曲をしない
  7. 七高広の牀に臥さない高く広い寝床に臥さない
  8. 八非時食ひじじきを離れる正午を過ぎたら食べない

八斎戒の八つ。一、不殺生（生きものを殺さない）。二、不偸盗（盗まない）。三、不淫（淫らな行いをしない）。四、不妄語（嘘をつかない）。五、不飲酒（酒を飲まない）。六、華香・歌舞を離れる（飾りや歌舞音曲をしない）。七、高く広い寝床に臥さない。八、非時食を離れる（正午を過ぎたら食べない）。

斎日の一日一夜、在家の人が出家者にならって保つ八つの戒です。

Confirmed in the original sources

For one day and night, in imitation of the arhats: the full text of the eight precepts

Translation
Each is to be cultivated single-mindedly as a precept of purity. The eight precepts are as follows.
  1. Do not kill. For one day and night, like an arhat, give rise to no thought of killing; cherish living beings; harm not even the crawling creatures; take up no blade or staff; wishing for their peace and benefit, never kill again.
  2. Do not steal; give alms. Give rise to no grasping, greedy thought; give gladly, with your own hand, purely, reverently, and seeking no return; cast off the mind of miserliness.
  3. Do not engage in sexual conduct. Do not dwell on intimacy; cultivate pure conduct; give rise to no wrong desire; do not crave the senses.
  4. Do not lie. Hold to sincerity; speak calmly and slowly; do not deceive; let mind and mouth accord.
  5. Do not drink intoxicants. Do not become drunk, nor confused, nor lose your right mind; cast off the heedless mind.
  6. Do not adorn yourself with flowers and perfumes. Do not apply powder, nor engage in song, dance, and music.
  7. Do not lie on a high, broad bed. Pass the time on a low bed or a grass mat; setting aside sleep, contemplate the scriptures and the path.
  8. Do not eat after noon. In accordance with the Dharma, eat at the proper time, eating little and restraining the body.
Original text

第一戒者、盡一日一夜持、心如真人、無有殺意、慈念眾生、不得賊害蠕動之類、不加刀杖、念欲安利莫復為殺、如清淨戒以一心習。

第二戒者、盡一日一夜持、心如真人、無貪取意、思念布施、當歡喜與、自手與、潔淨與、恭敬與、不望與、却慳貪意、如清淨戒以一心習。

第三戒者、一日一夜持、心如真人、無婬意、不念房室、修治梵行、不為邪欲、心不貪色、如清淨戒以一心習。

第四戒者、一日一夜持、心如真人、無妄語意、思念至誠、安定徐言、不為偽詐、心口相應、如清淨戒以一心習。

第五戒者、一日一夜持、心如真人、不飲酒、不醉、不迷亂、不失志、去放逸意、如清淨戒以一心習。

第六戒者、一日一夜持、心如真人、無求安意、不著華香、不傅脂粉、不為歌舞倡樂、如清淨戒以一心習。

第七戒者、一日一夜持、心如真人、無求安意、不臥好床、卑床草席、捐除睡臥、思念經道、如清淨戒以一心習。

第八戒者、一日一夜持、心如真人、奉法時食、食少節身、過日中後不復食、如清淨戒以一心習。

Source
*Sūtra on Abstinence* (Fo shuo zhai jing) (Taishō No. 87, translated by Zhi Qian).

The Pali uposatha sutta has the same two-part structure

Translation
The arhats, as long as they live, have abandoned and refrain from killing. I too, this night and this day, abandon and refrain from killing. In this respect I imitate the arhats.
Original text

yāvajīvaṃ arahanto pāṇātipātaṃ pahāya …

Ahaṃ pajja imañca rattiṃ imañca divasaṃ pāṇātipātaṃ pahāya … arahataṃ anukaromi.

Source
*Aṅguttara Nikāya*, Book of Eights, "Saṅkhittūposatha-sutta" (The Discourse on the Uposatha in Brief, AN 8.41).
5

The merit of keeping a day of abstinence

The merit of keeping a day of abstinence | rebirth into the heavens

The *Aṅguttara Nikāya* of the Pali canon expounds in concrete terms the merit of keeping the eight precepts of abstinence on a day of abstinence. It surpasses, it says, becoming the king who rules the sixteen great realms.

This comparison with the sixteen great realms appears in the same way in the Chinese *Sūtra on Abstinence* and the *Sūtra of the Laywoman Viśākhā* (Yupoyi duosheqie jing).

Furthermore, the *Sūtra on Abstinence* teaches that if, having kept the eight precepts on a day of abstinence, one cultivates the five mindfulnesses (gonen: mindfulness of the Buddha, of the Dharma, of the Sangha, of the precepts, and of the heavens), the defilements of the heart are washed away. A day of abstinence was not only a day for keeping the precepts, but also a day for being mindful of the Buddha, giving alms, and cleansing the heart.

要点

The merit of keeping a single day of abstinence is said to surpass even becoming the king of a great realm. A day of abstinence was not only a day for keeping the precepts but also a day for being mindful of the Buddha, giving alms, and cleansing the heart.

Confirmed in the original sources

A single day of abstinence surpasses sovereignty over the sixteen great realms

Translation
Even were one to wield sovereignty over the sixteen great realms (Aṅga, Magadha, Kāśī, Kosala, and the rest), it would not be worth a sixteenth part of the eight-limbed uposatha (the eight precepts of abstinence), for human kingship is poor beside the bliss of the heavens.
Original text

…soḷasannaṃ mahājanapadānaṃ … rajjaṃ kāreyya …

aṭṭhaṅgasamannāgatassa uposathassa etaṃ kalaṃ nāgghati soḷasiṃ.

Source
*Aṅguttara Nikāya*, Book of Eights, "Vitthatūposatha-sutta" (The Discourse on the Uposatha in Detail, AN 8.42).

The five mindfulnesses cultivated on a day of abstinence: be mindful of the Buddha and the defilements of the heart fall away

Translation
The Buddha said to Viśākhā: On the day you receive abstinence, you should cultivate the five mindfulnesses. What are the five? First, be mindful of the Buddha; second, of the Dharma; third, of the Sangha; fourth, of the precepts; fifth, of the heavens. Being mindful of the Buddha, the habits of folly, malice, and anger are wholly removed, a good mind arises of itself, and one aspires to the work of the Buddha. Just as washing the head with sesame oil and cleansing-powder removes the grime, so too is the purity of one who is mindful of the Buddha on a day of abstinence.
Original text

佛告維耶、受齋之日當習五念。何謂五。一當念佛、二當念法、三當念眾、四當念戒、五當念天。

是念佛者、愚癡惡意怒習悉除、善心自生、思樂佛業。譬如以麻油澡豆沐頭、垢濁得除、齋念佛者其淨如是。

Source
*Sūtra on Abstinence* (Fo shuo zhai jing) (Taishō No. 87, translated by Zhi Qian).
6

Abstinence on a yearly cycle

The three long months of abstinence and the eight royal days | abstinence on a yearly cycle

Besides the monthly six days of abstinence, there are the three long months of abstinence and the eight royal days on a yearly cycle. The three long months are explicitly stated in the *Brahmā's Net Sutra*, the root of the Mahāyāna precepts.

The three long months of abstinence (sanchō saigetsu) are the custom of making the entire 1st, 5th, and 9th months months of abstinence, restraining oneself with particular care throughout. The *Brahmā's Net Sutra*, the root scripture expounding the Mahāyāna precepts, explicitly states, together with the six days of abstinence, that to violate these three long months by killing and the like is to transgress the precepts.

Later commentary explained why these three months were chosen. The 1st month is the beginning when life sprouts, the 5th when it is at its height, and the 9th the start of gathering the harvest into the storehouse: each falls at a turning point of the year. Furthermore, it was explained that the heavenly emperor patrols the four quarters of the world (the four great continents) in turn month by month to examine the conduct of people, and that the months in which the world we inhabit is inspected fall precisely on these 1st, 5th, and 9th months.

The eight royal days (hachiō-nichi) are the eight annual turning points that mark the changes of the seasons. They are the eight days that combine the beginnings of spring, summer, autumn, and winter with the spring and autumn equinoxes and the summer and winter solstices, corresponding also to today's twenty-four solar terms. The now-lost *Sūtra of Tapussa* (Daiimon kyō) fixed these days, on which the gods of heaven and earth change over and yin and yang alternate, as the eight royal days.

The fixed days of the month (the six days of abstinence), the three months of the year (the three long months of abstinence), and the turning points of the seasons (the eight royal days) all rest on a single idea: heaven patrols the human realm at regular intervals and inspects good and evil, and so on those days one restrains oneself.

要点

Beyond the monthly six days of abstinence, there are the three long months of abstinence (the 1st, 5th, and 9th months) on a yearly cycle, and the eight royal days at the turning points of the seasons. All rest on the same idea, that one restrains oneself because heaven patrols humankind at regular intervals.

年単位の斎 ― 三長斎月と八王日

三長斎月（正・五・九月）
  • 正月
  • 二月
  • 三月
  • 四月
  • 五月
  • 六月
  • 七月
  • 八月
  • 九月
  • 十月
  • 十一月
  • 十二月
八王日（季節の変わり目）
  • 立春
  • 春分
  • 立夏
  • 夏至
  • 立秋
  • 秋分
  • 立冬
  • 冬至

年単位の斎。三長斎月は正月・五月・九月の三か月。八王日は立春・春分・立夏・夏至・立秋・秋分・立冬・冬至の八つの節目。

毎月の六斎日に加えて、年には三度の長い斎月（正・五・九月）と、季節の変わり目の八王日があります。

Confirmed in the original sources

The six days of abstinence and the three long months of abstinence each year

Translation
Whoever, on the six days of abstinence or in the three long months of abstinence each year, commits killing, robbery, breaking abstinence, or transgressing the precepts, commits a minor defiling offense (kyōku-zai).
Original text

於六齋日、年三長齋月、作殺生・劫盜・破齋犯戒者、犯輕垢罪。

Source
*Brahmā's Net Sutra* (Fanwang jing), "Chapter on the Bodhisattva Mind-Ground Precepts" (Taishō No. 1484).

The eight royal days are the two solstices, two equinoxes, and four seasonal beginnings

Translation
What are the eight royal days? They are the beginning of spring, the spring equinox, the beginning of summer, the summer solstice, the beginning of autumn, the autumn equinox, the beginning of winter, and the winter solstice. These are called the eight royal days. Because the many gods of heaven and earth, and yin and yang, change over, they are named the eight royal days.
Original text

何等八王日、謂立春・春分・立夏・夏至・立秋・秋分・立冬・冬至。是謂八王日。天地諸神、陰陽交代、故名八王日。

Source
*Collection of Translated Buddhist Terms* (Fanyi mingyi ji), fascicle 7, citing the *Sūtra of Tapussa* (Daiimon kyō) (Taishō No. 2131).
1

The root authority for the ten days of abstinence

The root authority for the ten days of abstinence | the *Sūtra of the Past Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva*

What directly expounds the ten days of abstinence is the *Sūtra of the Past Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva*. The ten days of abstinence, the six days plus four, gave rise to ennichi such as Jizō's on the 24th.

Here the ten days of abstinence are set out explicitly, namely the 1st, 8th, 14th, 15th, 18th, 23rd, 24th, 28th, 29th, and 30th, and it teaches that on these days transgressions are gathered up (tallied) and their gravity is judged.

The same notion of a day of judgment that runs through the six days of abstinence and the eight royal days flows here as well.

要点

Adding four days to the six days of abstinence gives the ten days of abstinence. These are expounded in the *Sūtra of the Past Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva*, which became the matrix of ennichi such as Jizō's on the 24th.

Confirmed in the original sources

On ten days transgressions are tallied and judged

Translation
Furthermore, Samantamukha! As for the beings of future ages: on the 1st, 8th, 14th, 15th, 18th, 23rd, 24th, 28th, 29th, and 30th of the month, on these days the transgressions one has committed are gathered up and their gravity is judged. If on these ten days of abstinence one recites this sutra once before an image of a buddha, bodhisattva, or sage, then within a hundred yojana to the east, west, south, and north no calamity whatever will arise.
Original text

復次、普廣！若未來世眾生、於月一日・八日・十四日・十五日・十八日・二十三・二十四・二十八・二十九日、乃至三十日、是諸日等、諸罪結集、定其輕重。

能於是十齋日、對佛菩薩諸賢聖像前、讀是經一遍、東西南北、百由旬內、無諸災難。

Source
*Sūtra of the Past Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva* (Dizang pusa benyuan jing), "Chapter on the Praise of the Tathāgata," the sixth (Taishō No. 412).

The ten days of abstinence are the six days with four added

Translation
The ten days of abstinence are the six days of abstinence with the 1st, 18th, 24th, and 28th added. The record of Daoxian says: at first there were only the six days of abstinence, and from the time of the Tripiṭaka master of the Tang (Xuanzang) the ten days of abstinence were added. It also says that the ten days of abstinence are expounded in the *Sūtra of the Past Vows of Kṣitigarbha*.
Original text

十齋日者、六齋日加一日・十八日・二十四日・二十八日。

道暹記云、先只有六齋日、自唐三藏始加十齋日。又十齋日、地藏本願經有之云云。

Commentary
Notably, it transmits that at first there were only the six days of abstinence, and that from around the time of the Tang Tripiṭaka master Xuanzang the number grew to ten. The record of an old learned monk confirms that the ten days of abstinence were an expansion of the six.
Source
Ryōei Shōnin, *Tōshūyō kenmon* (Jōdoshū Zensho J11_0416B19).

六斎日から十斎日へ／十斎日の仏

六斎日
  • 8
  • 14
  • 15
  • 23
  • 29
  • 30
＋
加わる4日
  • 1
  • 18
  • 24
  • 28
↓
十斎日
  • 1
  • 8
  • 14
  • 15
  • 18
  • 23
  • 24
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30

六斎日（8・14・15・23・29・30）に、4日（1・18・24・28）を加えると、十斎日（1・8・14・15・18・23・24・28・29・30）になる。

六斎日に4日を加えたのが十斎日です。この10日のそれぞれに、念ずべき仏が配されました。

The ten buddhas of abstinence

The ten buddhas of abstinence | the buddha or bodhisattva to be mindful of on each day

The ten buddhas of abstinence pair, one to one, each of the ten days of abstinence with an underworld official who descends to the world below and a buddha or bodhisattva to be mindful of on that day. An underworld official is assigned to each day, and it teaches that being mindful of the corresponding buddha on that day frees one from the suffering of the corresponding hell and erases transgressions. A manuscript unearthed at Dunhuang transmits the complete assignment.

DayUnderworld official who descendsBuddha or bodhisattva to be mindful ofMerit of keeping abstinence
1stThe YouthDīpaṃkara TathāgataOne does not fall into the hell of blades and spears; transgressions of forty kalpas are removed.
8thThe PrinceYakushi, the Buddha of Lapis Lazuli Radiance (Bhaiṣajyaguru)One does not fall into the hell of filth; transgressions of thirty kalpas are removed.
14thThe Inspector of LifeThe thousand buddhas of the Auspicious KalpaOne does not fall into the hell of the boiling cauldron; transgressions of one thousand kalpas are removed.
15thThe Great General of the Five PathsAmitābhaOne does not fall into the hell of freezing ice; transgressions of two hundred kalpas are removed.
18thKing YamaAvalokiteśvara (Kannon)One does not fall into the hell of the sword-tree; transgressions of ninety kalpas are removed.
23rdThe Great GeneralVairocana (Rushana)One does not fall into the hell of hungry ghosts; transgressions of one thousand kalpas are removed.
24thTaishan Fujun, Lord of Mount TaiJizō (Kṣitigarbha)One does not fall into the hell of hacking and cutting; transgressions of one thousand kalpas are removed.
28thIndraAmitābhaOne does not fall into the hell of the iron saw; transgressions of ninety kalpas are removed.
29thThe Four Heavenly KingsBhaiṣajyarāja and Bhaiṣajyasamudgata BodhisattvasOne does not fall into the hell of the grinding mill; transgressions of seven thousand kalpas are removed.
30thKing BrahmāŚākyamuniOne does not fall into the hell of the river of ashes; transgressions of eight thousand kalpas are removed.

Source: *Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva and the Ten Days of Abstinence* (Dizang pusa shi zhairi) (Taishō No. 2850, a Dunhuang manuscript). A nearly identical variant is the *Four Days of Abstinence of the Mahāyāna* (Dasheng si zhairi) (Taishō No. 2849). The one who governs the 24th is Taishan Fujun (the Lord of Mount Tai), the ruler of the underworld and the hells. It is a coherent pairing to assign to that day Jizō, the savior of the hells. Note that the principal buddha of the 28th is Amitābha, not Fudō. The origin of each deity's ennichi is examined one by one in the particular discussions of Part Two.

十斎日と冥界の役人

  1. 1その日、冥界の役人（冥官・みょうかん）が天から下りて人の罪を調べる↓
  2. 2その日の仏を念じ、斎さいを保てば↓
  3. 3その地獄に堕ちるのを免れる
たとえば24日
  1. 24日太山府君たいざんぶくんが下る→
  2. 念ずる仏地蔵菩薩→
  3. 結果斬斫ざんしゃく地獄を免れる

十斎日の救いの仕組み。1、その日に冥界の役人が天から下りて人の罪を調べる。2、その日の仏を念じ斎を保てば。3、その地獄に堕ちるのを免れる。たとえば24日は、太山府君が下り、地蔵菩薩を念ずれば、斬斫地獄を免れる。

十斎日には、その日ごとに冥界の役人が下って人の行いを調べるとされました。その日の仏を念じ、斎を保てば、その地獄を免れると説かれます。

Lineage 2

The thirty hidden buddhas

The thirty hidden buddhas are buddhas and bodhisattvas assigned, one for each day, to the thirty days of a month. There is no sutra that expounds them; it is a custom of devotion arranged so that one may venerate the buddha of each particular day. It originated in the ten buddhas of abstinence (Lineage 1), which assigned a buddha to each of the ten days of abstinence; this was extended across all thirty days, and the empty days were filled with buddha-names drawn from the Lotus Sutra. Below we present the assignment for the thirty days and then examine how it came to be.

The thirty hidden buddhas

The thirty hidden buddhas: the buddha of all thirty days

The buddha or bodhisattva assigned to each of the thirty days of a month.

DayBuddha-name
1stDīpaṃkara Buddha
2ndPradīpaprabha Buddha
3rdPrabhūtaratna Buddha
4thAkṣobhya Tathāgata
5thMaitreya Buddha
6thThe Buddha of Twenty Thousand Lamps
7thThe Buddha of Thirty Thousand Lamps
8thYakushi Tathāgata
9thMahābhijñā-jñānābhibhū Buddha
10thThe Buddha of the Lamp of Sun and Moon
11thThe Buddha of Joy
12thThe Invincible Buddha
13thĀkāśagarbha Bodhisattva
14thSamantabhadra Bodhisattva
15thAmitābha
16thDhāraṇī Bodhisattva
17thNāgārjuna Bodhisattva
18thAvalokiteśvara Bodhisattva
19thSūryaprabha Bodhisattva
20thCandraprabha Bodhisattva
21stAkṣayamati Bodhisattva
22ndAbhayaṃdada Bodhisattva
23rdMahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva
24thKṣitigarbha Bodhisattva
25thMañjuśrī Bodhisattva
26thBhaiṣajyasamudgata Bodhisattva
27thVairocana Buddha
28thMahāvairocana Tathāgata
29thBhaiṣajyarāja Bodhisattva
30thŚākyamuni Tathāgata

The original thirty buddha-names are lined with names drawn from the Lotus Sutra, such as Prabhūtaratna, Mahābhijñā-jñānābhibhū, the Lamp of Sun and Moon, the Buddhas of Twenty and Thirty Thousand Lamps, Akṣayamati, and Abhayaṃdada. There are several traditions of the assignment, and the one given here is the standard form common to the pilgrimage sites and temple materials. The right-hand column, "the assignment current among the people," spread when independent ennichi and ennichi of the kami, such as Myōken, Yakushi, and Kannon, were overlaid onto the foundation of the thirty buddha-names; overlaying Fudō and Mahāvairocana on the 28th is an esoteric joining made in Japan.

1

How the thirty hidden buddhas came to be

How the thirty hidden buddhas came to be

Each buddha-name appears in the scriptures. The table itself, however, which assigns thirty buddhas to thirty days, is found in no sutra; it is a custom of devotion arranged so that one may venerate the buddha of each day.

The thirty hidden buddhas were formed by extending the ten buddhas of abstinence, which assigned a buddha to each of the ten days of abstinence, across all thirty days of the month, and filling the empty days with buddha-names drawn from the Lotus Sutra. In Japan they spread by way of Zen circles in the Muromachi period.

The assignment is not fixed. Depending on the temple, the region, and the lineage of transmission, a different buddha may be assigned even to the same day. Each deity's own ennichi has also developed separately, and its origin is examined one by one in Part Two.

要点

The thirty hidden buddhas are a devotion that assigns a buddha or bodhisattva to the thirty days of a month and venerates the buddha of each day. No sutra established it; it is said to have been handed down from Zen circles. Because no single form is fixed, the assignment differs from temple to temple and region to region.

Confirmed in the original sources

The thirty buddhas of the days were fixed by the Chan master Wuzu Shijie

Translation
The thirty buddhas of the days were fixed by the Chan master Wuzu Shijie (Shijie belongs to the Yunmen school).
Original text

五祖師戒禪師所定也〔戒雲門宗〕

Commentary
The Chan master Wuzu Shijie (Gososhi Kai Zenji) was a monk of the Northern Song in China, a man of the Yunmen school (Unmonshū) who resided on Mount Wuzu (in Hubei). The Edo-period dictionary of Zen terms *Zenrin shōkisen* transmits that this master Shijie fixed the assignment of the thirty buddhas of the days. It is one piece of evidence that the thirty hidden buddhas spread not through any particular sutra but by way of Zen circles.
Source
*Zenrin shōkisen* (Taishō Iconographic Section No. B19n0103, by Mujaku Dōchū).

Lineage 3

Ennichi of the sexagenary cycle

These are ennichi fixed not by the day of the month but by the rotation of the twelve branches (jūnishi: the twelve animals, Rat, Ox, Tiger, and so on). Most are explained by the bond between a deity and its messenger animal (kenzoku). We present this list. The origin of each deity's ennichi is examined one by one in the particular discussions of Part Two.

The sexagenary lineage

List of ennichi of the sexagenary lineage

Ennichi fixed not by the day of the month but by the rotation of the twelve branches. Most are explained by the bond between a deity and its messenger animal.

Sexagenary signDeityNameKey point of origin
Day of the Wood Rat (kinoe-ne)Mahākāla (Daikokuten)Kinoe-ne machi; first Wood RatOnce every sixty days. The rat is Mahākāla's messenger. One stays up until midnight to worship.
Day of the Rat (ne)Mahākāla (Daikokuten)Once every twelve days. A simplified form of the Wood Rat day.
Day of the Tiger (tora)Bishamonten (Vaiśravaṇa)First TigerFrom the tradition that Bishamonten manifested in the year, day, and hour of the Tiger (Mount Shigi). The tiger is his messenger.
Day of the Horse (uma) (especially the first in the 2nd month)Inari (Ḍākinī, Dakiniten)First Horse; second HorseThe day the deity of Fushimi Inari descended is held to be the first Horse day of the 2nd month, Wadō 4.
Day of the Snake (mi)Benzaiten (Sarasvatī)Snake-day visitOnce every twelve days. The snake is Benzaiten's messenger and manifestation.
Day of the Earth Snake (tsuchinoto-mi)Benzaiten (Sarasvatī)Earth Snake festival; Earth Snake vigilOnce every sixty days. The most exalted of the Snake days. For fortune in money and wealth.
Day of the Boar (i)Marishiten (Mārīcī)Boar-day visitThe boar is Marishiten's messenger and mount. The Boar market at Ueno and the like.
Day of the Metal Monkey (kanoe-saru)Blue-Faced Vajra; IndraMetal Monkey vigil; first Metal MonkeyOnce every sixty days. One stays awake through the night to prevent the three corpse-worms from escaping. In Shintō, Sarutahiko.

十二支で決まる縁日

干支の輪と縁日の尊干支の縁日子大黒天丑寅毘沙門天卯辰巳弁財天午稲荷未申青面金剛酉戌亥摩利支天
曜日ではなく十二支の巡りで決まる縁日です。多くは、その尊の使いの動物との結びつきによります。

Lineage 4

Ennichi of waiting for the moon and the sun

This is the devotion in which a congregation (kōjū, a gathering of fellow believers) assembles on the night of a particular lunar phase, venerates the moon, and makes offerings to a principal deity. Stones for waiting on the moon (tsukimachi-tō) remain throughout the country. The practice can be confirmed from the Muromachi period and flourished in the Bunka and Bunsei eras of the Edo period. We present a list of the principal deities. The origin of each deity's ennichi is examined one by one in the particular discussions of Part Two.

月待塔（つきまちとう）

木の根もとに並ぶ月待塔。石の表面に「廿三夜」と刻まれている。
各地の道ばたや寺社に残る月待塔（つきまちとう）。「廿三夜（二十三夜）」などと刻まれ、人々が夜ごとに集まって月を拝んだことを今に伝えます。

Waiting for the moon and the sun

List of principal deities for waiting on the moon and the sun

The devotion in which a congregation assembles on the night of a particular lunar phase, venerates the moon, and makes offerings to a principal deity. Stones for waiting on the moon remain throughout the country. The practice can be confirmed from the Muromachi period and flourished in the Bunka and Bunsei eras of the Edo period.

Waiting for the moon or the sunPrincipal deityNotes
Night of the thirteenthĀkāśagarbha Bodhisattva
Night of the fifteenthMahāvairocana, Amitābha, Yakushi, Kannon, Jizō, ĀkāśagarbhaThe principal deity varies greatly by region.
Night of the sixteenth (izayoi)Mahāvairocana, Amitābha, Holy Kannon, Cintāmaṇicakra (Nyoirin) Kannon, JizōMany principal deities.
Night of the nineteenthCintāmaṇicakra (Nyoirin) KannonThe deity of the nineteenth night. Women's and nenbutsu congregations. Joined with the devotion for safe childbearing.
Night of the twenty-firstCintāmaṇicakra (Nyoirin) KannonWomen's and nenbutsu congregations.
Night of the twenty-secondCintāmaṇicakra (Nyoirin) Kannon; Cundī (Juntei) KannonVaries by region.
Night of the twenty-thirdSeishi BodhisattvaThe twenty-third night vigil; the three-night vigil. The most widely distributed of the moon-waiting devotions throughout the country. Seishi is the original ground of the moon-deva.
Night of the twenty-sixthAizen Myōō (Rāgarāja) (also the Amitābha triad)The twenty-sixth night vigil. Flourished at Takanawa and Shinagawa in Edo.
Metal Monkey vigilBlue-Faced Vajra; IndraOverlaps with the sexagenary lineage. An all-night sun-waiting vigil.
Wood Rat vigilMahākāla (Daikokuten)Overlaps with the sexagenary lineage.
Earth Snake vigilBenzaiten (Sarasvatī)Overlaps with the sexagenary lineage.

The nineteenth night of moon-waiting (Cintāmaṇicakra Kannon) and the 19th of the monthly ennichi (Horse-Headed Kannon) are of different lineages and have different principal deities. The twenty-sixth night of moon-waiting (Aizen Myōō) and the 26th of the monthly ennichi (Aizen Myōō) have the same principal deity.

月待の信仰

  1. 十三夜じゅうさんや虚空蔵菩薩
  2. 十五夜じゅうごや諸尊（地域差）
  3. 十九夜じゅうくや如意輪観音
  4. 二十三夜にじゅうさんや勢至菩薩最も広まった
  5. 二十六夜にじゅうろくや愛染明王（阿弥陀三尊とも）

おもな月待の夜と本尊。十三夜（満月前のふくらむ月）は虚空蔵菩薩、十五夜（満月）は諸尊、十九夜（満月後の少し欠けた月）は如意輪観音、二十三夜（左半分が光る下弦の月）は勢至菩薩で最も広まった、二十六夜（細い有明の月）は愛染明王（阿弥陀三尊とする地域もある）。夜ごとに月相が違い、本尊も異なる。

月待は、決まった夜に月の出を待ち、集まってその夜の本尊を拝む信仰です。夜ごとに本尊が異なり、最も広まったのは二十三夜の勢至です。

Lineage 5

Ennichi of founding masters and kami: based on days of remembrance

Another principle that fixes the day of an ennichi is the day of remembrance of a person. Ennichi were established after the memorial days of school founders, eminent monks, and kami (mostly moving from the annual memorial day to the monthly memorial day). Rather than taking the numbers of the calendar as their cue, as the days of abstinence and the thirty hidden buddhas do, these take as their cue the day on which that person departed this world. Only the way of fixing the day differs; in being a day to form a bond with a buddha or a worthy of the past, they are no different from the other ennichi. We present a list. The origin for each person is examined one by one in the particular discussions of Part Two.

Founding masters and kami

List of ennichi of founding masters and kami

Ennichi based on the memorial days of school founders, eminent monks, historical persons, and kami (mostly moving from the annual memorial day to the monthly memorial day). They are unrelated to the numerical schemes of the days of abstinence or the thirty hidden buddhas.

DaySubjectOrigin (memorial day, birthday, etc.)
The 3rd of each month / January 3Ganzan Daishi (Ryōgen)Memorial day January 3, 985. Founder of the Horned Daishi and of fortune-slips. The first Daishi of the year in the Tendai lineage.
The 13th of each monthNichiren ShōninPassing October 13, 1282. Monthly memorial day the 13th. The Oeshiki.
The 16th of each monthShinran ShōninPassing (Kōchō 2, 11th month, 28th day / January 16 by the new calendar). Held by some as the monthly memorial day the 16th; the Hōonkō lineage.
The 21st of each monthKōbō Daishi (Kūkai)Entry into meditation March 21, 835. Monthly memorial day the 21st. The Miei-ku. The most firmly established in the Shingon lineage.
The 22nd of each monthPrince ShōtokuMemorial day February 22, 622. The Prince's memorial at Shitennō-ji and Hōryū-ji.
The 25th of each monthTenjin (Sugawara no Michizane)The 25th by both the birth on June 25 and the death on February 25. Kitano and Dazaifu.
The 25th of each monthHōnen ShōninPassing January 25, 1212. Monthly memorial day the 25th. The same 25th as Tenjin.
June 7En no Gyōja (En no Ozunu)The tradition of his ascent to heaven. Founder of Shugendō. Kinpusen-ji and the like.
October 5BodhidharmaThe memorial day of the first patriarch of the Zen school (the Daruma-ki).

The "first Daishi of the year" differs in subject between Kōbō Daishi (January 21) and Ganzan Daishi (January 3). Mañjuśrī, Tenjin, and Hōnen Shōnin coincide on the 25th, and Fudō and Shinran Shōnin on the 28th, but these are cases in which the calendar of memorial days and the assignment of principal deities, two distinct principles, happened to meet on the same number.

1

Ennichi deriving from memorial days

Founding masters and kami | ennichi deriving from memorial days

Ennichi deriving from the memorial days of historical persons. These are unrelated to the numerical schemes of the days of abstinence or the thirty hidden buddhas.

The ennichi of founding masters and kami were formed when the day on which that person died (the annual memorial day) was extended into a monthly memorial day that recurs each month. Whereas the ennichi of buddhas and bodhisattvas are fixed by the numerical schemes of the days of abstinence or the thirty hidden buddhas, these take as their starting point the historical date of a real person.

Mañjuśrī coincides with Tenjin and Hōnen Shōnin on the 25th, and Fudō with Shinran Shōnin on the 28th, but these are chance coincidences. The calendar of memorial days and the monthly assignment of principal deities, two distinct principles, happened to meet on the same number. The origin of each person's ennichi is examined one by one in the particular discussions of Part Two that follow.

要点

The ennichi of Kōbō Daishi (the 21st) and Tenjin (the 25th) derive from the day on which that person died (the memorial day). They follow a principle distinct from the assignment of buddhas, and their coinciding on the same day is mere chance.

Part Two: Particular Discussions

The ennichi of the principal buddhas

From here we examine the origin of the ennichi for each of the principal buddhas, one deity at a time. We first present a ready-reference table of the monthly ennichi, and then trace, in the order of tathāgatas, bodhisattvas, wisdom kings, devas, and founding masters and kami, each date while indicating to which lineage it belongs.

Ready-reference table

Calendar of monthly ennichi (1st to 30th)

First, a practical ready-reference table. We present the monthly ennichi current among the people, from the 1st to the 30th. On the foundation of the assignment of the thirty hidden buddhas (the original form being the thirty buddha-names), independent ennichi and ennichi of the kami coexist. Several deities often stand side by side on the same day, and this is the main cause of the "variation" in ennichi lists.

DayPrincipal deityName of the ennichiNotes and variant traditions
1stMyōken BodhisattvaMyōken ennichiSome lineages place Myōken on the 15th.
2ndLife-Prolonging Jizō
3rdGanzan Daishi (Ryōgen)Ganzan Daishi ennichiDerives from Ryōgen's memorial day, January 3. The first Daishi of the year in the Tendai lineage.
4thAkṣobhya Tathāgata
5thMaitreya BodhisattvaMaitreya ennichiSuitengū (of the Shintō lineage) stands alongside.
6thThe Buddha of Twenty Thousand Lamps
7thThousand-Armed KannonThe tradition placing it on the 17th is also strong.
8thYakushi TathāgataYakushi ennichi; first YakushiKishimojin on the 8th is also established. Some temples place it on the 12th.
9thMahābhijñā-jñānābhibhū Buddha
10thKonpira (Kotohira)Konpira ennichiThe 10th in the Shugendō and Shintō lineages.
11thHachiman Daibosatsu
12thYakushi TathāgataCoexists with the 8th.
13thĀkāśagarbha BodhisattvaĀkāśagarbha ennichiNichiren Shōnin on the 13th stands alongside.
14thSamantabhadra BodhisattvaSamantabhadra ennichi
15thAmitābha TathāgataAmitābha ennichiA fixed day since the Heian period. There is also a tradition placing Myōken on the 15th.
16thKing YamaYama ennichi; first YamaKangiten (Shōten) on the 16th, and Shinran Shōnin's monthly memorial day the 16th, stand alongside.
17thThousand-Armed KannonCoexists with the 7th.
18thAvalokiteśvara BodhisattvaKannon ennichi; first Kannon; the day of forty-six thousand daysThe oldest ennichi record in the literature (the *Konjaku Monogatarishū*).
19thHorse-Headed KannonHorse-Headed Kannon ennichiOf a different lineage from the nineteenth night of moon-waiting (Cintāmaṇicakra Kannon).
20thEleven-Headed KannonTwentieth-day EbisuEbisu (of the Shintō lineage) stands alongside.
21stKōbō Daishi (Kūkai)Daishi ennichi; first DaishiA separate lineage deriving from the memorial day. In the hidden-buddha assignment, Cundī (Juntei) and Akṣayamati Bodhisattva.
22ndCintāmaṇicakra (Nyoirin) KannonThe Prince's memorialPrince Shōtoku's monthly memorial day the 22nd stands alongside (Shitennō-ji).
23rdSeishi BodhisattvaThe twenty-third nightCoincides with the twenty-third night of moon-waiting (Seishi).
24thKṣitigarbha BodhisattvaJizō ennichi; first JizōA fixed day since the Heian period. Atago Gongen on the 24th stands alongside.
25thMañjuśrī BodhisattvaTenjin ennichi; first TenjinTenjin (Sugawara no Michizane) and Hōnen Shōnin on the 25th stand alongside.
26thAizen MyōōAizen ennichi; the twenty-sixth nightCoincides with the twenty-sixth night of moon-waiting (Aizen).
27thVairocana Buddha
28thFudō Myōō; MahāvairocanaFudō ennichi; first Fudō; closing FudōFudō and Mahāvairocana on the same 28th. An assignment made in Japan.
29thBhaiṣajyarāja Bodhisattva
30thŚākyamuni TathāgataŚākyamuni ennichi; the last day of the monthThe close of the thirty buddha-names.

The deities in bold are ennichi firmly established among the people. Note that deities of the Shintō lineage (Myōken, Konpira, Tenjin, Ebisu, Suitengū) coexist within the Buddhist ennichi calendar. The principal data rest on the calendar-based assignment of the thirty hidden buddhas (the original form being the thirty buddha-names).

Tathāgatas

Śākyamuni Tathāgata

The 30th of each month (plus the annual observances: birth on 4/8, awakening on 12/8, parinirvāṇa on 2/15)
  • Thirty hidden buddhas
  • Annual observance

The 30th of each month is the close of the thirty buddha-names. Apart from this, there are three great festivals that come round once a year. The birth (April 8, the Kanbutsu-e) and the parinirvāṇa (February 15, the Nehan-e) have their dates explicitly stated in the scriptures. The awakening (December 8, the Jōdō-e) had no fixed month and day in the early scriptures and was compiled and fixed in China as the Rōhachi-e. These are days of annual observance, resting on a basis distinct from the monthly ennichi of the 30th.

Confirmed in the original sources

The birth on the eighth of the fourth month
Translation
On the night of the eighth of the fourth month, when the morning star appeared, the prince was born from the right side, took seven steps at once, raised his right hand, and said: "Above the heavens and below them, I alone am honored. The three realms are all suffering; what is there to delight in?"
Original text

到四月八日夜明星出時、化從右脇生墮地、即行七步、舉右手住而言：『天上天下、唯我為尊。三界皆苦、何可樂者？』

Source
*Sūtra of the Auspicious Origins of the Prince* (Taizi ruiying benqi jing), upper fascicle (Taishō No. 185, translated by Zhi Qian, Wu).
The awakening on the eighth of the twelfth month
Translation
When the morning star appeared, the prince broke wide open in great awakening, attained the unsurpassed, right, and true path, and accomplished supreme right enlightenment (the complete awakening).
Original text

明星出時、廓然大悟、得無上正真道、為最正覺。

Commentary
The scriptures do not fix the awakening to a single month and day. There is a tradition giving the eighth of the second month and one giving the eighth of the twelfth month (the eighth of the last month of the year). The eighth of the twelfth month became established in the Chan monasteries of China and is transmitted to this day as the Jōdō-e (the Rōhachi-e). The "Chapter on Repaying the Root" of the *Revised Pure Rules of Baizhang* lists the three festivals of birth, awakening, and parinirvāṇa side by side as annual monastic observances.
Source
*Sūtra of the Practice and Origins* (Xiuxing benqi jing), lower fascicle, "Chapter on Going Forth" (Taishō No. 184, translated by Zhu Dali and Kang Mengxiang, Later Han); the authority for the dates is the *Revised Pure Rules of Baizhang*, "Chapter on Repaying the Root" (Taishō No. 2025, recompiled by Dehui, Yuan).
The parinirvāṇa on the fifteenth of the second month
Translation
At one time the Buddha was at the birthplace of the strongmen in the city of Kuśinagara, among the twin sāla trees of the Firm Grove on the bank of the Hiraṇyavatī River, encircled before and behind by eight billion monks. On the fifteenth of the second month, just as he was about to enter parinirvāṇa (complete nirvāṇa), the many beings were each at peace.
Original text

一時佛在拘夷城力士生地、熙連河側堅固林雙樹間、與八百億比丘前後圍繞。二月十五日臨般泥洹、時諸眾生各各悅樂。

Source
*Sūtra of the Great Parinirvāṇa* (Fo shuo da banniyuan jing), "Introductory Chapter" (Taishō No. 376, translated by Faxian, Eastern Jin).

Yakushi Tathāgata

The 8th
  • Ten buddhas of abstinence
  • Thirty hidden buddhas

The 8th is the central day of the six days of abstinence. Yakushi devotion was originally expounded in connection with the eight-part precepts of abstinence (hachibu saikai, that is, the eight precepts of abstinence), and this affinity with abstinence lies behind Yakushi's assignment to the 8th among the ten buddhas of abstinence. In the thirty buddha-names too Yakushi is placed on the 8th, and in the assignment current among the people Yakushi also appears on the 12th.

Confirmed in the original sources

The eight-part precepts of abstinence and the name of Yakushi
Translation
If members of the four assemblies (renunciant and lay, men and women) keep the eight-part precepts of abstinence for a year or for three months, and hear the name of the Blessed One Yakushi, the Tathāgata of Lapis Lazuli Radiance, then at the moment of death eight bodhisattvas will come and show them the path.
Original text

若有四眾……有能受持八分齋戒、或經一年、或復三月……若聞世尊藥師琉璃光如來名號、臨命終時、有八菩薩、乘神通來、示其道路。

Source
*Sūtra of the Merit of the Past Vows of Yakushi, the Tathāgata of Lapis Lazuli Radiance* (Yaoshi liuliguang rulai benyuan gongde jing) (Taishō No. 450, translated by Xuanzang).

Amitābha Tathāgata

The 15th
  • Ten buddhas of abstinence
  • Thirty hidden buddhas
  • Moon-waiting

Amitābha is assigned to the 15th of the full moon. In both the ten buddhas of abstinence and the thirty buddha-names the 15th is Amitābha. Amitābha's contemplation of the sun (nissōkan) is a contemplation that visualizes the sun setting in the west, and it specifies no calendar date. The link between the 15th, the full moon, and fullness and the western quarter is a symbolic association. In the ten buddhas of abstinence Amitābha is also assigned to the 28th, and on the twenty-sixth night of moon-waiting it is told that the Amitābha triad (Amitābha, Kannon, and Seishi) appears in the moonlight.

Confirmed in the original sources

Amitābha's contemplation of the sun specifies no calendar date
Translation
Sit upright facing west, clearly contemplate the sun, fix the mind firmly, and visualize single-mindedly without wavering. The setting sun appears like a hanging drum. ... This is the contemplation of the sun, named the first contemplation.
Original text

正坐西向、諦觀於日、令心堅住、專想不移。見日欲沒、狀如懸鼓。……是為日想、名曰初觀。

Source
*Sūtra of the Contemplation of Amitāyus* (Fo shuo guan wuliangshou jing), the first contemplation (Taishō No. 365).

Mahāvairocana Tathāgata

The 28th
  • Thirty hidden buddhas

Mahāvairocana (Dainichi Nyorai) is the root buddha of Shingon esoteric Buddhism, held to be truth itself, illuminating every world. All buddhas and bodhisattvas are taught to arise from this Mahāvairocana. The 28th is the assignment within the thirty buddha-names, and Fudō Myōō, his manifestation, is bound to the same 28th.

Maitreya Bodhisattva

The 5th
  • Thirty hidden buddhas

Maitreya Bodhisattva (Miroku Bosatsu) is the future buddha who, 5.67 billion years after Śākyamuni's parinirvāṇa, will appear in this world, attain awakening beneath the dragon-flower tree, and save all beings. Until then, it is taught, he waits in Tuṣita Heaven. The ennichi of the 5th rests on the assignment of the thirty buddha-names; the scriptures specify no date.

Akṣobhya Tathāgata

The 4th
  • Thirty hidden buddhas

Akṣobhya Tathāgata (Ashuku Nyorai) is the buddha held to dwell in the eastern realm of Abhirati (Myōki), and he symbolizes the "unshakable mind" that grows angry at nothing and is never moved. The ennichi of the 4th rests on the assignment of the thirty buddha-names.

Bodhisattvas

Kannon Bodhisattva

The 18th
  • Ten buddhas of abstinence

Kannon Bodhisattva (Kannon Bosatsu) is the bodhisattva of compassion, held to hear the voices of beings in suffering and to appear in many forms to save them, each according to need. He has been cherished in many forms, such as Eleven-Headed, Thousand-Armed, and Cintāmaṇicakra. The ennichi of the 18th is one of the oldest records in the literature (the *Konjaku Monogatarishū*); the scriptures specify no 18th, and it rests on the assignment of the ten buddhas of abstinence. Because Kannon has so many forms, in the assignment current among the people and in moon-waiting he also appears on other days as Thousand-Armed, Horse-Headed, Eleven-Headed, Cintāmaṇicakra, Cundī (Juntei), and so on. For example, the 7th and 17th of the current assignment (Thousand-Armed), the 19th (Horse-Headed), the 20th (Eleven-Headed), the 22nd (Cintāmaṇicakra), and the 21st (Cundī), or the nineteenth, twenty-first, and twenty-second nights of moon-waiting.

Seishi Bodhisattva

The 23rd (the twenty-third night)
  • Thirty hidden buddhas
  • Moon-waiting

He is the bodhisattva of the light of wisdom and the bodhisattva of the nenbutsu. The ennichi of the 23rd rests on the assignment of the thirty buddha-names (the thirty hidden buddhas). He is moreover the principal deity of the twenty-third night, the most widely spread of all the moon-waiting devotions throughout the country, and the symbolism of moon-waiting, which sees the moonlight of the night sky as the light of wisdom, resonates with the scripture that expounds Seishi. The long nights of recitation of the Buddha's name while waiting for the moon also overlap with his practice of the unbroken succession of pure mindfulness (jōnen sōkei).

Confirmed in the original sources

Named Mahāsthāmaprāpta because of the light of wisdom
Translation
With the light of wisdom he illuminates all things everywhere, makes beings leave the three evil paths, and causes them to gain unsurpassed power. Therefore this bodhisattva is named Mahāsthāmaprāpta.
Original text

以智慧光普照一切、令離三塗、得無上力、是故號此菩薩名大勢至。

Source
*Sūtra of the Contemplation of Amitāyus* (Fo shuo guan wuliangshou jing), the eleventh contemplation, "Contemplation of Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva" (Taishō No. 365).
Seishi is the bodhisattva of the nenbutsu
Translation
If beings in their hearts recall the Buddha and are mindful of the Buddha, they will surely see the Buddha, now and in the future. Gathering and governing all six faculties, letting pure mindfulness succeed unbroken and so attaining samādhi, this is foremost.
Original text

若眾生心憶佛念佛、現前當來必定見佛……都攝六根、淨念相繼得三摩地、斯為第一。

Source
*Śūraṅgama Sūtra* (Da foding shoulengyan jing), fascicle 5, "Chapter on the Perfect Penetration of Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva through Mindfulness of the Buddha" (Taishō No. 945).

Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva

The 25th
  • Thirty hidden buddhas

Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva (Monju Bosatsu) is the bodhisattva who presides over surpassing wisdom, giving rise even to the proverb "three heads together make the wisdom of Mañjuśrī." He is depicted riding a lion and holding the sword of wisdom. The ennichi of the 25th rests on the assignment of the thirty buddha-names, and on the same 25th the ennichi of the memorial days of Tenjin and Hōnen Shōnin coincide.

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva

The 14th
  • Thirty hidden buddhas

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva (Fugen Bosatsu) is the bodhisattva who, over against Mañjuśrī's wisdom, presides over "practice," depicted riding a white elephant. He is also known as the bodhisattva who guards those who keep the Lotus Sutra, and he often appears in scenes that expound the salvation of women. The ennichi of the 14th rests on the assignment of the thirty buddha-names (the thirty hidden buddhas). In the ten buddhas of abstinence the thousand buddhas of the Auspicious Kalpa are placed on the 14th, not Samantabhadra.

Jizō Bodhisattva

The 24th
  • Ten buddhas of abstinence

The one who governs the 24th is Taishan Fujun (the Lord of Mount Tai), the ruler of the underworld and the hells. To assign to that day Jizō Bodhisattva, the savior of the hells, is a pairing coherent within the teaching. He is the deity most surely confirmed by the scriptures among all the ennichi. The authority for the ten days of abstinence themselves lies, as seen in Lineage 2 of Part One, in the *Sūtra of the Past Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva*.

Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva

The 13th
  • Thirty hidden buddhas
  • The thirteen buddhas
  • The thirteen-year-old visit
  • Moon-waiting

The link between Ākāśagarbha and "13" is not a single one. At least four threads overlap. One is the ennichi of the 13th of each month: that Ākāśagarbha was placed on the 13th among the thirty hidden buddhas is the direct source of the monthly ennichi. Another is the thirteenth of the thirteen buddhas (jūsanbutsu): the last of the thirteen deities for memorial services, the principal deity of the thirty-third-year memorial, is Ākāśagarbha. A third is the thirteen-year-old visit (jūsan-mairi): the custom by which a child of thirteen by the count prays to Ākāśagarbha for wisdom, on the 13th of the third month by the old calendar, with Hōrin-ji in Arashiyama as the famous sacred site. Fourth, the night of the thirteenth (jūsan-ya): the principal deity of the moon-waiting congregation that waits for the "later moon" of the 13th of the ninth month by the old calendar is also Ākāśagarbha. In what order these four "13s" arose, and how they influenced one another, cannot be determined from the primary sources. Behind them lies a group of scriptures that hold Ākāśagarbha to be "the bodhisattva of wisdom and memory." These are practices of memory bound to the gumonji method (gumonji-hō) and to the morning star (myōjō). Hōrin-ji transmits that the monk Dōshō, in the sixth year of Tenchō (829), cultivated the gumonji method for a hundred days, and that at the dawn of fulfilling the vow the morning star descended and he realized Ākāśagarbha; it sets that ennichi on the 13th. The gumonji method, the morning star, and the 13th coexist within a single story. However, the "time of a solar or lunar eclipse" in the text of the gumonji method is the season for confirming attainment after completing a million recitations of the spell, not something that fixes the calendar date of the 13th. Thus one can say neither that "the 13th derives from the gumonji method" nor that it is "unrelated."

Confirmed in the original sources

The "time of a solar or lunar eclipse" in the gumonji method is the passage on confirming attainment
Translation
Reciting the dhāraṇī until it totals a million times in all, then, at the time of a solar or lunar eclipse, recite the dhāraṇī without limit of number.
Original text

前後通計滿百萬遍……後於日蝕或月蝕時……誦陀羅尼無限遍數。

Source
*Method of the Wish-Fulfilling, Most Excellent Heart-Dhāraṇī of Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva for Hearing and Retaining* (Xukongzang pusa nengman zhuyuan zuisheng xin tuoluoni qiuwenchi fa) (Taishō No. 1145, translated by Śubhakarasiṃha).
The practice of memory bound to the fourteenth and fifteenth of the month and to the morning star
Translation
On the fourteenth and fifteenth of the month, when the morning star appears, recite this dhāraṇī a full eight hundred times.
Original text

月十四日・十五日、明星出時、誦此陀羅尼満八百遍。

Source
*Sūtra of the Contemplation of Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva* (Guan xukongzang pusa jing) (Taishō No. 409).

Wisdom kings

Fudō Myōō

The 28th
  • Thirty hidden buddhas

In the ten buddhas of abstinence the principal buddha of the 28th was Amitābha. In the thirty buddha-names (the thirty hidden buddhas), on the other hand, Mahāvairocana is placed on the 28th, and Fudō Myōō, his manifestation, is bound to the 28th. The assignment of Fudō to the 28th appears in a Japanese treatise (Shōgei Shōnin's *Nizōgi kenmon*). In the Edo period, when the worldly benefits of the homa were widely sought, it became firmly established as "Fudō's day." What the scriptures guarantee extends only to the 28th being a day of abstinence and to Fudō being the manifestation of Mahāvairocana.

Confirmed in the original sources

A treatise recording "the 28th, Fudō" as one of the ten buddhas of abstinence
Translation
Perhaps one should name the ten buddha-days the ten days of abstinence. That is: the 5th, Maitreya; the 8th, Yakushi; the 14th, Samantabhadra; the 15th, Amitābha; the 18th, Kannon; the 23rd, Seishi; the 24th, Jizō; the 25th, Mañjuśrī; the 28th, Fudō; the 30th, Śākyamuni.
Original text

或可以十佛日名十齋日歟。

謂、五日彌勒、八日藥師、十四日普賢、十五日彌陀、十八日觀音、二十三日勢至、二十四日地藏、二十五日文殊、二十八日不動、三十日釋迦也云云。

Commentary
Shōgei Shōnin, a learned Jōdo-school monk of the Nanboku-chō and Muromachi periods, explicitly records "the 28th, Fudō" as the buddha (one of the ten buddha-days) assigned to the ten days of abstinence. Whereas in the Dunhuang ten buddhas of abstinence the 28th was Amitābha, in this Japanese treatise it has become Fudō. This is the actual passage behind the statement that "the assignment of Fudō to the 28th appears in a Japanese treatise."
Source
Shōgei Shōnin, *Nizōgi kenmon* (Jōdoshū Zensho J12_0504B32–J12_0505A02).
Fudō sits directly below Mahāvairocana Tathāgata
Translation
Next, in the southwestern direction, directly below Mahāvairocana Tathāgata, seat the venerable Fudō upon a rock. In his hands he holds the noose and the sword of wisdom, surrounded all about by flames, in the posture of striking down those who obstruct the practice.
Original text

次涅哩底方、於大日如來下、作不動尊坐於石上、手持羂索慧刀、周匝焰鬘擬作障者。

Source
*Mahāvairocana-abhisaṃbodhi Sūtra (the Dainichi-kyō)* (Da piluzhena chengfo shenbian jiachi jing), "Chapter on Entering the Maṇḍala with the True Conditions and Mantras" (Taishō No. 848).
Fudō is the manifestation of Vairocana Buddha (Mahāvairocana)
Translation
This Fudō envoy is the manifestation of Vairocana Buddha (Mahāvairocana). Once one upholds this method, he grants protection birth after birth.
Original text

此不動使者、毘盧遮那佛之化身、一持之後生生加護。

Source
*Secret Dhāraṇī Method of the Fudō Envoy* (Budong shizhe tuoluoni mimi fa) (Taishō No. 1202, translated by Vajrabodhi).

Aizen Myōō

The 26th
  • Thirty hidden buddhas
  • Moon-waiting

Aizen Myōō (Rāgarāja) is the wisdom king who turns desire itself into awakening, cherished as the principal deity of matchmaking and harmony. The ennichi of the 26th is deeply bound to his being the principal deity of the twenty-sixth night (nijūroku-ya) of moon-waiting. The twenty-sixth night vigil (nijūroku-ya machi), in which one waits for the thinned crescent of the late moon that rises in the dead of the 26th by the lunar calendar and venerates its light, was widely held on the seashores of Takanawa and Shinagawa in Edo, and it was told that in the moonlight there appeared the three deities Amitābha, Kannon, and Seishi, or else that Aizen Myōō appeared. In the thirty hidden buddhas too Aizen is assigned to the 26th.

Devas

Myōken Bodhisattva

The 1st
  • Thirty hidden buddhas
  • The stars

Myōken Bodhisattva (Myōken Bosatsu) is a deity that deifies the pole star and the Big Dipper, held to be the most excellent of all the stars, to guard the realm and remove calamity. He was devoutly worshipped by the warrior houses, especially the Chiba clan. In the current assignment of the thirty buddha-names (the thirty hidden buddhas) Myōken is placed on the 1st, and the 1st of the month is held to be his ennichi. There is also a tradition placing it on the 15th of the full moon (the Myōken congregation).

Confirmed in the original sources

Myōken is the most excellent of the stars
Translation
I am the pole-star bodhisattva, named Myōken. ... Dwelling in this world, I am the most excellent of all the stars.
Original text

我北辰菩薩、名曰妙見……處於閻浮提、衆星中最勝。

Source
*Sūtra of the Great Dhāraṇī Spells Spoken by the Seven Buddhas and Eight Bodhisattvas* (Qi fo ba pusa suoshuo da tuoluoni shenzhou jing) (Taishō No. 1332).

King Yama

The 16th
  • The ten kings
  • Days of abstinence

This is held to be the great day of abstinence on which "the lid of the cauldron of hell opens." Yama presides over the fifth judgment among the ten kings, and his original ground is, in the Chinese text, Samantabhadra-rāja Tathāgata (in Japan, by the theory of original grounds and manifest traces (honji suijaku), the theory identifying him with Jizō spread).

Confirmed in the original sources

The original ground of King Yama is Samantabhadra-rāja Tathāgata
Translation
King Yama will in a future age surely become a buddha, named Samantabhadra-rāja Tathāgata. ... On the fifth seventh day after death, one passes before King Yama.
Original text

閻羅天子於未來世當得作佛、名曰普賢王如來。……第五七日過閻羅王。

Source
*Sūtra on the Ten Kings, Spoken by the Buddha, for Cultivation in Advance* (Fo shuo yuxiu shiwang shengqi jing) (Manji Zokuzō No. 21, recorded by Zangchuan).

Kangiten (Shōten)

The 1st and the 16th
  • Custom

Kangiten (Kangiten), also called Shōten, is an esoteric deva-deity depicted as two elephant-headed figures, male and female, embracing in a dual-bodied (sōshin) form. He was originally a deity of obstruction (shōge) who hindered people's progress, but it is told that Kannon Bodhisattva took the same form and drew close to him, leading him into harmony. From this account he is held to be a deity who grants, with particular force, worldly wishes such as harmony between husband and wife, the granting of children, and prosperity in business, and his original ground is Mahāvairocana. Because his efficacy is strong, the rites too are strict, and as a hidden deity who shows no form he is reverently venerated by the oil-bathing offering (yokuyu-ku), in which a monk pours warmed sesame oil over the image. He is devoutly worshipped in Shingon as well, and his ennichi is held to be the 1st or the 16th.

Confirmed in the original sources

Kannon leads the deity of obstruction into harmony; his original ground is Mahāvairocana
Translation
This King Senāyaka (Shōten) is the manifestation of Kannon. ... This holy and sovereign deity is none other than Mahāvairocana Tathāgata (Dainichi Nyorai).
Original text

此扇那夜迦王、則觀音之化身也。

此聖尊自在天、即摩訶毘盧遮那如來。

Commentary
A passage from an offering method esteemed in Shingon, expounding the account of the dual-bodied image, in which Kannon divided his own body to lead the deity of obstruction into harmony, and teaching that the original ground of Shōten is Mahāvairocana.
Source
*Method of Refuge, Recitation, and Offering to the Great Holy Joyful Dual-Bodied Great Sovereign Vināyaka King* (Da sheng huanxi shuangshen da zizaitian pinayejia wang guiyi niansong gongyang fa) (Taishō No. 1270, translated by Śubhakarasiṃha).

Kishimojin

The 8th, 18th, and 28th
  • Custom

Kishimojin (Hārītī) was originally a demoness who seized and devoured the children of others, but when Śākyamuni hid her youngest child and she came to know the grief of losing a child, she repented and became a deity who guards safe childbearing and the rearing of children. In the "Chapter on Dhāraṇī" of the Lotus Sutra she vows to guard those who keep the sutra. She is worshipped on the 8th, 18th, and 28th at Zōshigaya and elsewhere.

Mahākāla (Daikokuten)

The day of the Wood Rat (kinoe-ne)
  • Sexagenary cycle

Mahākāla (Daikokuten) was originally Mahākāla, the great dark deity of India, a fierce deity governing war, wealth, and the underworld. In the temples of China and Japan he was worshipped as the deity governing the kitchen and food (on Mount Hiei it is told that Dengyō Daishi Saichō enshrined him), and in time he came to be widely cherished as a deity of good fortune, riding on rice bales and bearing the mallet of fortune (uchide no kozuchi) and a great sack. In Japan, because the sound "daikoku" carries over, he was identified with Ōkuninushi no Mikoto and became one of the Seven Gods of Fortune. Because the rat (the Rat) is his messenger, the day of the Wood Rat (kinoe-ne) in the twelve branches is held to be his ennichi, and the Wood Rat vigil (kinoe-ne machi), in which one stayed up until midnight to worship, was held.

Confirmed in the original sources

A deity of good fortune who bears a sack and guards the temple's food
Translation
The color of his sack is like the fur of a rat. ... If one enshrines him in the assembly's refectory and venerates and makes offerings to him, prosperity will surely gather and well up of itself in the halls and quarters.
Original text

其袋之色為鼠毛色……居大衆食屋禮供者、堂屋房舍必自然之榮聚集涌出。

Commentary
It expounds that Mahākāla bears a sack, guards the temple's refectory (kitchen) so that the food of the assembly of monks never fails, and brings good fortune. It is the authority for the form in which he was cherished in Japan as the deity of the kitchen and of good fortune.
Source
*Method of the Deity Mahākāla* (Daheitian shen fa) (Taishō No. 1287, recorded by Shenkai).

Bishamonten

The day of the Tiger (tora)
  • Sexagenary cycle

Bishamonten (Vaiśravaṇa) guards the north as one of the Four Heavenly Kings (Tamonten) and is a deity who grants fortune in war and in wealth. He is also cherished as one of the Seven Gods of Fortune. From the account that Prince Shōtoku realized him in the year, day, and hour of the Tiger at Mount Shigi (Shigisan), the day of the Tiger became his ennichi. The tiger is his messenger.

Benzaiten

The days of the Snake and the Earth Snake
  • Sexagenary cycle

Benzaiten (Sarasvatī) presides over music, eloquence, and the arts, and is cherished as a goddess who later also brings fortune in wealth, depicted holding a biwa. She is one of the Seven Gods of Fortune. Because the snake is her messenger and manifestation, the day of the Snake in the twelve branches, and above all the day of the Earth Snake (tsuchinoto-mi) that comes once every sixty days, is held to be her ennichi. The link with the snake comes from a syncretism in Japan.

Marishiten

The day of the Boar (i)
  • Sexagenary cycle

She is a deity whose form riding a boar is explicitly stated in the scriptures. This iconography became the basis for making the day of the Boar in the twelve branches Marishiten's ennichi. Among the sexagenary lineage, her iconography alone is explicitly stated in the scriptures.

Confirmed in the original sources

Marishiten rides a golden boar
Translation
Visualize that Mārīcī Bodhisattva sits upon the body of a golden boar, surrounded further by a herd of boars.
Original text

想彼摩里支菩薩、坐金色猪身之上……復有群猪圍繞。

Source
*Sūtra of the Great Mārīcī Bodhisattva, Spoken by the Buddha* (Fo shuo da molizhi pusa jing) (Taishō No. 1257, translated by Devaśāntika).

Inari (Ḍākinī, Dakiniten)

The day of the Horse and the first Horse
  • Sexagenary cycle

Inari (Inari) is a familiar devotion praying for abundant harvests and prosperity in business, taking the fox as the deity's messenger. In Buddhism it was identified with the Ḍākinī (Dakiniten). By the shrine record that holds the day the deity of Fushimi Inari descended to be the first Horse day (hatsu-uma) of the 2nd month of Wadō 4 (711), the day of the Horse, and the first Horse in particular, became its ennichi.

Blue-Faced Vajra (Shōmen Kongō)

The day of the Metal Monkey
  • Sexagenary cycle
  • Daoism

Blue-Faced Vajra (Shōmen Kongō) is a deity with a blue body and a wrathful aspect who wards off plague and calamity. He was worshipped as the principal deity of the Metal Monkey vigil (kōshin machi), based on the Daoist theory of the three corpse-worms (sanshi). On the night of the Metal Monkey (kanoe-saru), to prevent the three corpse-worms within the body from escaping and reporting one's sins to heaven, people passed the night without sleep, once every sixty days. The three monkeys of "see not, speak not, hear not" and the Metal Monkey steles (kōshin-tō) that remain in many places are vestiges of this devotion.

Founding masters and kami (deriving from memorial days)

Kōbō Daishi (Kūkai)

The 21st
  • Memorial day

His entry into meditation (nyūjō) was on the 21st of the third month of Jōwa 2 (835). With the Miei-ku begun by the Archbishop Kangen of Tō-ji in Engi 10 (910), the monthly memorial day the 21st became the ennichi. It is the most firmly established memorial-day ennichi in the Shingon lineage.

Tenjin (Sugawara no Michizane)

The 25th
  • Memorial day

Tenjin (Tenjin) is the enshrinement of Lord Sugawara no Michizane, cherished as the deity of learning. Lord Michizane, who departed this world in exile though innocent, was later revered by the people as Tenjin. Both his birth and his death are held to fall on the 25th, and so the 25th is his ennichi. He is enshrined at Kitano Tenmangū and Dazaifu Tenmangū, and takes the plum as his sign.

Hōnen Shōnin

The 25th
  • Memorial day

Hōnen Shōnin (Hōnen Shōnin) is the monk who founded the Jōdo school, expounding the exclusive nenbutsu (senju nenbutsu) of simply reciting "Namu Amida Butsu." His passing was on the 25th of the first month of Kenryaku 2 (1212), and the monthly memorial day the 25th became his ennichi. On the same 25th the ennichi of Tenjin coincides.

Shinran Shōnin

The 28th and the 16th
  • Memorial day

Shinran Shōnin (Shinran Shōnin) is the monk who inherited Hōnen Shōnin's teaching and expounded the path of simply trusting in the salvation of Amitābha, later revered as the founder of the Jōdo Shinshū. His passing was on the 28th of the 11th month of Kōchō 2 (1262), and this, together with January 16 by conversion to the new calendar, is transmitted as his monthly memorial day. The Hōonkō, which commemorates the memorial day, is held.

Nichiren Shōnin

The 13th
  • Memorial day

Nichiren Shōnin (Nichiren Shōnin) is the monk who founded the Nichiren school, expounding the recitation of the daimoku "Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō." His passing was on the 13th of the 10th month of Kōan 5 (1282), and the monthly memorial day the 13th is his ennichi. Around the memorial day the Oeshiki, which commemorates the departed founding master, is held.

Prince Shōtoku

The 22nd
  • Memorial day

Prince Shōtoku (Shōtoku Taishi) is a statesman of ancient Japan and a founder of devotion, said to have deeply revered Buddhism, to have established the Seventeen-Article Constitution, and to have built Shitennō-ji and Hōryū-ji. He was later devoutly admired by the people, and devotion to the Prince spread. His memorial day is held to be the 22nd of the 2nd month of Suiko 30 (622) (the *Tenjukoku Shūchō*), and as the Prince's memorial (taishi-ki) at Shitennō-ji and Hōryū-ji, the 22nd is his ennichi.

Ganzan Daishi (Ryōgen)

The 3rd
  • Memorial day

Ganzan Daishi (Ryōgen) is the eminent Tendai monk who rebuilt the declining Mount Hiei, known as the founder of fortune-slips and as the Daishi who wards off misfortune. The talisman of the "Horned Daishi" (tsuno-daishi), said to depict the form of a demon, is still pasted at the doorways of houses as a charm against evil. His memorial day is the 3rd of the first month of Eikan 3 (985), and the 3rd of each month is his ennichi. January 3 is the first Daishi of the year in the Tendai lineage.

Conclusion

What the numbers tell

佛法中、日無好惡
In the Buddha's Dharma there is no good or ill in a day (*Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom*, fascicle 13).

We have traced the numbers of the ennichi along the five lineages, back to the original passages of the scriptures, and confirmed them one deity at a time for each of the principal buddhas. These numbers are indeed related to Buddhism, but the form of the relation is not a single one. The days of abstinence are the oldest stratum, beginning with the uposatha and rooted deeply in the scriptures; the ten buddhas of abstinence are the stratum that assigned a buddha to each day; the thirty hidden buddhas are the stratum of custom that spread from China to Japan; the sexagenary cycle and moon-waiting are each a stratum of devotion to the calendar and to the moon; and the ennichi of founding masters and kami are a separate category deriving from memorial days.

Jizō on the 24th is the deity most deeply confirmed by the scriptures; Fudō on the 28th is the deity overlaid as the manifestation of Mahāvairocana in the soil of Japan; the Daishi on the 21st is an ennichi of a separate lineage deriving from a memorial day. All lie within the same Buddhist endeavor, yet their origins and their certainty each differ.

To restrain oneself and accumulate good on a fixed day is an expedient means for guiding people toward the good, not because there is fortune, good or ill, in a day itself. The ennichi is the trace of an endeavor to form a bond with a buddha, an expedient means carried on for a thousand years. Please, on the day near you, quietly bring your palms together.

With palms joined

Byodoji (the Twenty-Second Sacred Site of the Eighty-Eight Sacred Sites of Shikoku)

よくあるご質問

Frequently Asked Questions

Ennichi pujas nationwide

Nationwide Ennichi observance tour

This directory lists temples and shrines throughout Japan that hold pujas, rites, or festivals on monthly ennichi dates. Every entry is supported by an official temple or shrine website, an official social-media account, or guidance published by a local government or pilgrimage association. Entries are arranged by date from the 1st through the final day of the month.

1st

The 1st is sakujitsu, the first day of the month. It is an ennichi for Myoken Bodhisattva and Bishamonten. Temples throughout Japan hold ennichi pujas and first-of-the-month goma rites, while shrines hold monthly rites and welcome worshipers for tsuitachi-mairi.

Temples: Ennichi puja/Goma

  • Shigisan Chogosonji TempleHegun Town, Nara Prefecture・Shigisan Shingon sect

    Bishamonten's festival

    The ennichi dates of the principal image, Bishamonten, are held on the 1st, 3rd, and a Day of the Tiger of each month, and monthly services are held in the temple’s halls.

    Official website ↗
  • Yanagishima Myokenyama Hoshoji TempleSumida Ward, Tokyo・Nichiren sect

    Myoken-sama festival (prayer meeting)

    The first day of each month is designated as the ennichi of Myōken Bodhisattva, and a prayer service is solemnly held by the monks.

    Official website ↗
  • Hojoji TempleShinjuku Ward, Tokyo・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Monthly goma prayer

    A solemn goma rite is performed on the 1st of each month, as well as on the 18th and 21st. Anyone may attend.

    Official website ↗
  • Nishiarai Daishi Sojiji TempleAdachi Ward, Tokyo・Shingon sect Toyoyama school

    First day of the month (first day of the month)

    The first day of each month is celebrated as the 1st, and the 1st is when the shrine is visited.

    Official website ↗
  • Kangakuji TempleNose Town, Osaka Prefecture・Shingon sect

    goma offering rite on the first day of the month

    A goma rite is performed solemnly from 11:00 on the first day of each month. Worshipers write their prayers on goma sticks.

    Official website ↗
  • Oiwayama Saishoji Temple (Oiwa Bishamonten)Ashikaga City, Tochigi Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Monthly Goma Practice

    A goma rite is performed three times on the 1st of each month at 5:30, 10:00, and 1:30.

    Official website ↗
  • Kurikara Fudoji TempleTsubata Town, Ishikawa Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Ennichi and Goma Rite

    The 1st of each month is the ennichi. A goma rite is performed from noon.

    Official website ↗
  • Fukagawa Fudodo (Naritasan Tokyo Annex)Koto Ward, Tokyo・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Fukagawa Fudo Festival

    The ennichi is held on the 1st of each month. In addition to the goma rite during the day, there is also a special goma at 7:00 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Shiofune Kannonji TempleOme City, Tokyo・Shingon sect Daigo school

    Monthly goma memorial service

    A goma rite is performed at 6:00 a.m. on the 1st of each month, except in January and May.

    Official website ↗
  • Okurayama Sugimotoji TempleKamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Kannon goma offering rite

    The oldest temple in Kamakura and the first temple of the Bando Thirty-Three Kannon. From 1:30 p.m. on the 1st and 18th of each month, the temple performs Kannon goma rite to the principal image of the eleven-faced Kannon.

    Official website ↗
  • Kaminezanji Temple (Japan's First Bishamonten)Takatsuki City, Osaka Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Bishamonten first day visit

    It is said to be the first sacred place in Japan to enshrine Bishamonten. On the morning of the first day of each month, the temple performs Bishamon Fudo goma and pray for business prosperity as a pilgrimage on the 1st.

    Official website ↗
  • Mogami Inariyama Myokyoji TempleKita Ward, Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture・Nichiren sect

    First day's visit

    It is one of the three major Inari shrines in Japan and retains the form of a syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism. The first day of each month is considered an ennichi to connect with the Mogami deity, and the temple is crowded with people visiting on the 1st. The market is also held on the first day of each month, except in January and February.

    Official website ↗

Shrines: Sakubi pilgrimage/Monthly festival

  • Hokkaido Shrine TonguSapporo City, Hokkaido・shrine

    monthly festival

    Monthly rite and one-day Kosha birthday ennichi held at 6:00 p.m. on the 1st of each month.

    Official website ↗
  • Shonai ShrineTsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture・shrine

    Otsuitachi Shrine/Monthly Festival

    Monthly rite at 10:00 a.m. on the 1st of each month. Monthly limited goshuin stamps and shrine bells.

    Official website ↗
  • Fujiki ShrineMurakami City, Niigata Prefecture・shrine

    New Year's Day Visit

    On the 1st of each month, sacred salt and sakaki are distributed to express gratitude for the previous month and pray for safety during the new month.

    Official website ↗
  • Imizu ShrineTakaoka City, Toyama Prefecture・shrine

    first day festival

    On the 1st of each month, Ichinomiya Sakuhei and freshly made sweets are offered in front of the shrine.

    Official website ↗
  • Ohno Minato ShrineKanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    Monthly rite from 6:30 on the 1st of each month. Anyone may attend.

    Official website ↗
  • Koshigaya Katori ShrineKoshigaya City, Saitama Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    On the 1st of each month, a monthly rite (open attendance) for purification, the Great Purification Prayer, and the recitation of norito.

    Official website ↗
  • Hie ShrineChiyoda Ward, Tokyo・shrine

    Sakutan Festival

    On the 1st of each month, the shrine gives thanks for the blessings of the kami and prays for peace in daily life. Anyone may attend.

    Official website ↗
  • Kanda Myojin ShrineChiyoda Ward, Tokyo・shrine

    monthly festival

    Monthly rite from 8:30 on the 1st of each month. Anyone may attend.

    Official website ↗
  • Nezu ShrineBunkyo Ward, Tokyo・shrine

    monthly festival

    Monthly rite from 8:30 on the 1st of each month. A limited goshuin stamp.

    Official website ↗
  • Tanashi ShrineNishi-Tokyo City, Tokyo・shrine

    Monthly Festival (Osakubi Shrine)

    Monthly rite starts at 9:00 on the 1st of each month (advance registration required).

    Official website ↗
  • Hakone ShrineHakone Town, Kanagawa Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    Monthly rite held on the morning of the 1st of each month. certificates of attendance are presented to those in attendance.

    Official website ↗
  • Minatogawa ShrineKobe City, Hyogo Prefecture・shrine

    Monthly Festival (Otsuitachi Mairi)

    Monthly rites and Kagura performances are held at the main shrine on the first day of each month at 10:00 a.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Omiwa ShrineSakurai City, Nara Prefecture・shrine

    Saku Nichi Pilgrimage/Monthly Festival

    A monthly rite is held at the worship hall on the first day of each month at 10:00 a.m. A morning market is also held.

    Official website ↗
  • Shirasaki Hachiman ShrineIwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture・shrine

    New Year's Day Visit

    Monthly rites are held on the 1st and 15th of each month.

    Official website ↗
  • Hakozaki ShrineFukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    On the 1st of each month, except January 1, the shrine presents sacred food offerings and recites norito prayers before the kami.

    Official website ↗
  • Toka Ebisu ShrineFukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture・shrine

    first day festival

    The first day of each month's ennichi is held from 10 a.m. on the 1st of each month (the monthly rite is held on the 10th).

    Official website ↗
  • Miyajidake ShrineFukutsu City, Fukuoka Prefecture・shrine

    A visit to visit

    On the first day of each month, Sakuhi Mairi is a throngs of worshippers visit throughout the night.

    Official website ↗
  • Terukuni ShrineKagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture・shrine

    first day festival

    The first day of each month starts at 9:00 a.m. A Tsuitachi tea gathering is held and a limited goshuin is offered.

    Official website ↗
  • Yashiro Shrine (Myoken Shrine)Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture・Shrine (Myoken faith)

    Monthly Festival (Myoken Fair)

    Monthly rites are held on the 1st and 15th of each month, which are the ennichi dates of Myoken.

    Official website ↗
  • Tarumaeyama ShrineTomakomai City, Hokkaido・shrine

    monthly festival

    Monthly rites are held on the 1st and 15th of each month. The rites are also conducted at Inari Shrine and Tarumae Tenmangu Shrine.

    Official website ↗
  • Takekoma ShrineIwanuma City, Miyagi Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    One of the three Inari shrines in Japan. The monthly rite is held from 11:00 a.m. on the 1st of each month.

    Official website ↗
  • Takayashiki Inari ShrineKoriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite is held at 6:30 a.m. on the first day of each month.

    Official website ↗
  • Okayama ShrineKita Ward, Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture・shrine

    beginning of the month festival

    The principal tutelary shrine of Okayama City. The monthly rite is held at 8:30 a.m. on the 1st of each month (except January).

    Official website ↗
  • Shioya ShrineSaeki Ward, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    Monthly rites are held on the 1st, 10th, and 20th of each month. A rite is held from 2:00 p.m. on the 1st.

    Official website ↗
  • Namiuegu ShrineNaha City, Okinawa Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    An old shrine representing Okinawa and one of the eight Ryukyu shrines. Monthly rites are held on the 1st and 17th of each month.

    Official website ↗
  • Izumo Taisha ShrineIzumo City, Shimane Prefecture・shrine

    beginning of the month festival

    A tsukihajime-sai is held on the 1st of each month. It is held from 10 a.m. in most months to pray for the continued flourishing of the Imperial Family and the nation, and the peace of worshipers.

    Official website ↗
  • Taikodani Inari ShrineTsuwano Town, Shimane Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite lasting about 40 minutes begins at 11:00 a.m. on the 1st and 15th. The shrine gives thanks for divine blessings and prays for the flourishing of its devotees and the fulfillment of their wishes.

    Official website ↗
  • Miyazaki ShrineMiyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture・shrine

    First day's visit

    There is a custom of visiting the shrine on the first day of each month, and commemorative gifts are awarded on December 1st to those who visit the shrine each month throughout the year. At the rest area on the approach to the shrine, seasonal pilgrimage mochi is offered from 6 a.m. on the 1st.

    Official website ↗
  • OkinomiyaNaha City, Okinawa Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    The shrine stands in Ōnoyama Park. A monthly rite is held on the 1st of each month, and prayers are offered at the beginning of the month.

    Official website ↗
  • Miyako ShrineMiyakojima City, Okinawa Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    Monthly rites are held at 10:00 a.m. on the 1st and 15th of monthly. Anyone may attend.

    Official website ↗
  • Hirosaki Hachiman ShrineHirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite is held on the 1st of each month, and people pray for a month of peace in front of the shrine.

    Official website ↗
  • Shinkotoni ShrineKita Ward, Sapporo City, Hokkaido・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite is held on the 1st of each month to pray for peace throughout the month, such as family safety and business prosperity.

    Official website ↗
  • Kehi ShrineTsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture・shrine

    Sakutan Festival

    The principal tutelary shrine of Hokuriku Prefecture. The sakutan-sai is held on the 1st of each month, and the monthly rite is held on the 15th.

    Official website ↗
  • Niigata Sōchinju Hakusan ShrineChuo Ward, Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    Monthly rites are held on the 1st, 15th, and 28th of each month. On the evening of the 1st, a monthly worship gathering is held where the participants read out the Great Purification Prayer and prayers themselves.

    Official website ↗
  • Niigata Prefecture Gokoku ShrineChuo Ward, Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    The shrine holds a monthly rite on the 1st, 8th, and 15th. Anyone may attend. Prayers are offered for the peace of Niigata Prefecture and the health of those present.

    Official website ↗

2nd

In the Thirty Buddhas of the Month, the 2nd is assigned to Tomyo Buddha; in popular ennichi calendars, it is associated with Enmei Jizo. Jizo's principal ennichi is the 24th, so few temples or shrines hold regular observances on the 2nd. Some temples, however, continue Kannon prayers or Jizo ennichi observances on this day.

Temples - Monthly pujas and Jizo fairs

  • Mizumadera Temple (Mizuma Kannon)Kaizuka City, Osaka Prefecture・Head temple of the Tendai sect

    Day of service (1st, 2nd, 15th, 18th of each month)

    The 2nd day of each month is the day of service, and the temple priests visit each temple in turn to pray at the main hall, which is dedicated to the principal image of Shō Kannon Bodhisattva, starting at 10:50 a.m. together with the public prayer service.

    Official website ↗
  • Enmei Kosodate JizosonArakawa Ward, Tokyo・Jizo-do

    Jizo Festival (2nd day)

    The 2nd, 12th, and 22nd of each month are designated as Jizō ennichis, and people continue to visit the temple to pray for longevity and the well-being of children. It enshrines stone Buddha statues from the Edo period, including the Jizō Bodhisattva inscribed in 1643.

    Official website ↗

3rd

The 3rd is the ennichi associated with the monthly memorial day of Ganzan Daishi Ryogen, who revitalized the Tendai school. Revered as a protector against misfortune, he is honored with goma rites at Tendai temples throughout Japan. Some temples also observe ennichi for Bishamonten on the 1st and 3rd.

Temples: Gensandaishi Festival/Goma

  • Hojuji TempleHigashiyama Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Gensandaishi Festival/goma offering rite

    On the 3rd of each month, the ennichi of Ganzan Daishi, the temple performs goma in two sessions at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. The date is also the monthly memorial day of Cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa.

    Official website ↗
  • Shitennoji TempleTennoji Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture・Washu sect head temple

    Former Sandaishi Association

    On the 3rd of each month, they perform goma rite at Gensandaishi-do Hall, and after the service concludes, the doshi gives them the blessing of a shakujo.

    Official website ↗
  • Rozanji TempleKamigyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Enjoshu

    Gensandaishido goma offering rite

    A goma rite is performed on the 3rd of each month at Gensandaishi-do Hall, and anyone is free to visit.

    Official website ↗
  • Anrakuji Temple (Gensandaishi)Joso City, Ibaraki Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Gensandaishi Festival

    The 3rd day of each month is designated as the ennichi for the main deity, Ganzan Daishi, and welcomes worshipers.

    Official website ↗
  • Shigisan Chogosonji TempleHegun Town, Nara Prefecture・Shigisan Shingon sect

    Bishamonten Festival

    The ennichi dates of the principal image, Bishamonten, are set on the 1st and 3rd days of each month and on a Day of the Tiger, and Daihannya prayers are held in various halls.

    Official website ↗
  • Seikouyama Shoboji TempleTaito Ward, Tokyo・Nichiren sect

    Bishamonten Festival Opening Prayer Meeting

    The temple enshrines Bishamonten, one of the three major Bishamonten statues of Edo. The 3rd day of each month is observed as an ennichi, where the principal image is unveiled and a prayer service is held, during which prayers are given using the wooden sword (bokken) conferred at the Nichiren school’s great ascetic training hall.

    Official website ↗
  • Shigisan Daihonzan GyokuzoinHegun Town, Nara Prefecture・Shigisan Shingon sect

    Bishamonten Monthly Puja/Goma

    This head temple on Mount Shigi enshrines Bishamonten. It performs goma early every morning, with special pujas and Great Perfection of Wisdom prayers on the 1st, 3rd, and first Tiger day of monthly. A monthly Bishamon-ko gathering is held from the 1st through the 3rd.

    Official website ↗

4th

In the Thirty Buddhas of the Month, the 4th is assigned to Akshobhya Tathagata. No major observance unique to this date is widely transmitted, but Jizo images whose ennichi fall on dates ending in four, the 4th, 14th, and 24th, are enshrined throughout Japan.

Temples: Jizo Festival

  • Koganji Temple (Togenuki Jizo)Toshima Ward, Tokyo・Soto sect

    Togenuki Jizo Festival

    The 4th, 14th, and 24th of each month are designated as Jizō ennichi dates, and the main hall is open until 8:00 pm for worshipers. On the 4th, there is also prayers at 6:30 in the morning.

    Official website ↗

Shrines: Monthly Rites

  • Momodo ShrineOmihachiman City, Shiga Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    The monthly rite is held from around 10:00 a.m. on the 4th of each month. The enshrined deity is Sarutahiko no Mikoto, long revered for protection from asthma. Advance reservations are not required, and souvenirs are presented to those who attend.

    Official website ↗

5th

In the Thirty Buddhas of the Month, the 5th is assigned to Maitreya Bodhisattva. It is also the ennichi of Suitengu, recalling the Edo-period custom when worship was permitted only on the 5th of each month. Shrines and temples in various regions hold monthly rites and pujas on this day.

Temples - Monthly fairs and memorial services

  • Yakushiji TempleNara City, Nara Prefecture・Head temple of the Hosso sect

    Xuanzang festival memorial service

    The temple holds a service at the Genjo Sanzoin Garan from 1:00 p.m. on the 5th of each month, and recites the Heart Sutra.

    Official website ↗
  • Yagotoyama Koshoji TempleShowa Ward, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Ozu Kumyo King Festival

    On the 5th of each month at 10:00 a.m., stalls are lined up along the approach to the temple to celebrate the ennichi of King Daizuigumyo.

    Official website ↗

Shrines – monthly festivals

  • Suitengu ShrineChuo Ward, Tokyo・shrine

    Monthly festival (5th)

    Monthly rites are held on the 1st, 5th, and 15th of each month. It originates from an ennichi during the Edo period when worshipers were only allowed on the 5th of each month.

    Official website ↗

6th

In the Thirty Buddhas of the Month, the 6th is assigned to Niman Tomyo Buddha. This buddha did not become the focus of widespread devotion, and temples or shrines holding a regular monthly observance on this day are rare.

Temples: Daikokuten Festival/Joreihoza

  • Manoji TempleMinamiboso City, Chiba Prefecture・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Daikokuten Festival

    The monthly Daikokuten Festival is held on the 6th of each month. The hammer and amulets of the Asahi Good Luck Daikokuten are blessed with the sacred fire of wisdom. A goma rite is performed at 11 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., and a good luck market is held on the grounds.

    Official website ↗
  • Ichijoji TempleFukagawa City, Hokkaido・Jodo Shinshu Honganji school

    ordinary law seat

    A regular Dharma gathering begins at 1:30 p.m. on the 6th of each month. Visiting teachers from across Japan lead a Dharma talk after the chanting of the Shoshinge, and a vegetarian meal is offered. The gathering is suspended during the busy farming season.

    Official website ↗

7th

In the Thirty Buddhas of the Month, the 7th is assigned to Thousand-Armed Kannon, although another tradition assigns this deity to the 17th. Kyoto's Miyako Shichifukujin observes the 7th as an ennichi, and some temples hold sutra-copying sessions and Dharma talks.

Temples: Sutra Shaking Society/Seven Lucky Gods Festival

  • Kurama-dera TempleSakyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Hironori Kurama

    Sutra copying session/sermon

    On the 7th of each month, the temple holds a sutra copying session (one transcription of the Heart Sutra starting at 10:40 a.m.) and a sermon from 1:00 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Matsugasaki Daikokuten (Myoenji Temple)Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Nichiren sect

    Miyako Shichifukujin Festival

    As the sacred place of Daikokuten, which is part of Kyoto's Seven Lucky the kamis tour, a gold seal is added to the goshuin on the 7th of each month.

    Official website ↗
  • Kyoo Gokokuji Temple (Toji Temple)Minami Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Toji Shingon sect

    Miyako's Seven Lucky Gods Bishamonten (Gold Seal Awarded)

    This head temple of the Toji Shingon school enshrines Bishamonten as one of Kyoto's Seven Gods of Fortune. Worshippers visiting on the 7th of each month may receive a gold seal on their gohoin. This ennichi is distinct from the Kobo Market held on the 21st.

    Official website ↗
  • Rokuharamitsuji TempleHigashiyama Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Miyako Seven Lucky Gods Benzaiten (Gold Seal Awarded)

    This temple was founded by Kuya Shonin and is dedicated to Benzaiten, one of the Seven Gods of Fortune. The secretariat of Kyoto Seven Lucky the kamiskai is located there, and the gold seal is added on the 7th of each month.

    Official website ↗
  • Akayama Zen-inSakyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Miyako Shichifukujin Fukurokujujin (Gold Seal Awarded)

    It is the sub-temple of Enryaku-ji Temple on Mt. Hiei, and is said to protect the Omotekimon gate of the capital. It enshrines Fukurokuju, one of the Seven the kamis of Fortune, and adds a gold seal on the 7th of each month.

    Official website ↗
  • Kodo Gyoganji TempleNakagyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Miyako Shichifukujin Jurojin (Gold Seal Awarded)

    The 19th temple of Saigoku's 33 temples is dedicated to Jurojin, one of the Seven Gods of Fortune in the city. A gold seal is added on the 7th of each month at Jurojin Hall within the temple grounds.

    Official website ↗
  • Mt. Obaku Manpukuji TempleUji City, Kyoto Prefecture・Obaku sect

    Miyako Shichifukujin Hoteison (Gold Seal Awarded)

    It is the main temple of the Obaku sect, founded by Ryuki Ingen, and the Hotei-no-son in Tennoden is counted as one of the Seven Gods of Fortune of the City. A gold seal is added on the 7th of each month.

    Official website ↗

Shrines: Ebisu/Seven Lucky Gods Festival

  • Kyoto Ebisu ShrineHigashiyama Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・shrine

    Miyako Seven Lucky Gods Ebisu God (Gold Seal Awarded)

    One of Japan's three great Ebisu shrines, it enshrines Ebisu as one of Kyoto's Seven Gods of Fortune. It is renowned for the Toka Ebisu festival in January, and on the 7th of each month worshippers may receive the pilgrimage's gold seal.

    Official website ↗
  • Miho ShrineMatsue City, Shimane Prefecture・shrine

    Seven-day Ebisu Festival (Monthly Festival)

    The main shrine of Ebisu shrines nationwide. The 7th of each month is the ennichi, and a monthly rite is held from 9:00 a.m., and only on the 7th are golden tai-shaped amulets awarded.

    Official website ↗

8th

The 8th is the ennichi of Yakushi Nyorai. Beginning with Hatsu-Yakushi on January 8, Yakushi sacred sites throughout Japan hold ceremonial recitations of the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra and perform goma rites. Some temples also observe Kishimojin's ennichi on the 8th, 18th, and 28th.

Temples: Yakushi Ennichi Observance/Goma

  • Yakushiji TempleNara City, Nara Prefecture・Head temple of the Hosso sect

    Yakushi fair

    At 11:00 a.m. on the 8th of each month, the temple holds a Yakushi ennichi service in the Kondo and performs a ceremonial recitation of the six hundred fascicles of the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. The head priest gives an ennichi Dharma talk at 1:00 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Ichibata Temple (Ichibata Yakushi)Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture・Rinzai sect Myoshinji school

    Yoka-san (Yakushi Fair)

    The 8th of each month is Yokasan, the ennichi of Yakushi Nyorai, which includes a prayer service for Daihannya, the abbot's sermon, and udon noodles.

    Official website ↗
  • Nishiarai Daishi (Sojiji Temple)Adachi Ward, Tokyo・Shingon sect Toyoyama school

    Yakushi Nyorai Festival

    The 8th of each month is the ennichi of Yakushi Nyorai, and after the 11 o'clock goma rite, a service is held in the main hall (except January).

    Official website ↗
  • Zoshigaya Kishimojindo (Homyoji Temple)Toshima Ward, Tokyo・Nichiren sect

    Kishimojin Festival

    On the 8th, 18th, and 28th of each month, which are the ennichi dates of Kishimojin, it is crowded with people visiting the shrine to pray for safe childbirth and child rearing.

    Official website ↗
  • Taiyuji TempleKita Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Ichigo Fudo goma Prayer

    On the 8th, 18th, and 28th of each month, goma rites for Ichiganfudo are held in the goma hall.

    Official website ↗
  • Mutsu Kokubunji YakushidoWakabayashi Ward, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Ennichi Observance goma Prayer/Handmade Market

    A great goma rite for Yakushi Nyorai begins at 9:30 a.m. on the 8th of each month. The Yakushi-san Handmade Market opens in the temple grounds at 10:00 a.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Shinjoji Temple (Zakuro-dera)Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture・Nichiren sect

    Kishimojin Festival

    People continue to visit the temple on the 8th, 18th, and 28th of each month, which are the ennichi dates of Kishimojin, to pray for fertility and safe childbirth.

    Official website ↗
  • Joruriji TempleKizugawa City, Kyoto Prefecture・Shingon Ritsu sect

    Medicine Buddha Opening Door

    On the 8th of each month, the main image of the National Treasure Three-Storied Pagoda, the seated statue of Yakushi Nyorai, is opened (weather permitting).

    Official website ↗
  • Teruya TempleToride City, Ibaraki Prefecture・Lotus sect

    Kishimo Shrine Prayer Meeting

    A prayer service is held at 10 a.m. on the 8th of each month, which is the ennichi of Kishimojin. Write your wishes on a prayer card, read out the wishes of the participants, and pray together.

    Official website ↗
  • Joshoji TempleMinami Ward, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture・Nichiren sect

    Kishimojin festival/daimokukai

    Each month, on Kishimojin's ennichi dates, the 8th, 18th, and 28th, the temple offers prayers for protection from childhood ailments and for clarity of wisdom. On the 8th, members of the devotional association also hold a daimoku gathering.

    Official website ↗
  • Kawasaki Daishi Heikenji TempleKawasaki Ward, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Yakushi-den Great Prajnamaya Sutra Blessings

    On the 8th of each month, which is the ennichi of Yakushi Nyorai, after the morning goma rite, blessings are performed at the Yakushiden using the Mahaprajna Sutra.

    Official website ↗
  • Inabado Byodoji TempleShimogyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Shingon sect Sennyuji school

    Inaba Yakushi handmade market

    The principal image is the Yakushi Nyorai called Inaba Yakushi, who is worshiped as a believed to protect against cancer. A handicraft market is held on the grounds on the 8th of each month, which is the ennichi of Yakushi Nyorai.

    Official website ↗
  • Chomyoji TempleSakyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Nichiren sect

    Prayers at Kishimojindo

    Prayers are held at 2:00 p.m. on the 8th of each month at Kishimojin Hall within the temple grounds, and visitors may enter the hall to worship.

    Official website ↗
  • Ichibatayama Yakushiji TempleOkazaki City, Aichi Prefecture・Rinzai sect Myoshinji school

    Yakushi fair

    The principal image is Ichihatayakushi Ruriko Nyorai. The ennichi is held on the 8th of each month, which is the ennichi of Yakushi Nyorai, and Japanese sweets are distributed to worshipers.

    Official website ↗
  • Kamiterayama Yokeiji TempleSetouchi City, Okayama Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Yakushi fair

    A seated statue of Yakushi Nyorai (an important cultural property) from the Heian period is enshrined in Yakushido. The 8th day of each month, which is the ennichi of Yakushi Nyorai, is designated as Yakushi Ennichi.

    Official website ↗
  • Tenkosan Myokokuji TempleKochi City, Kochi Prefecture・Nichiren sect

    Kishimojinkai

    A prayer service is held at 1:00 p.m. on the 8th of each month, which is the ennichi of Kishimojin. It is said to be effective for praying for safe childbirth and for treating women's illnesses.

    Official website ↗
  • Myokokuji TempleArao City, Kumamoto Prefecture・Nichiren sect

    Kishimojin Monthly Festival

    A monthly service for Kishimojin begins at 11:00 a.m. on the 8th. Participants sound fan drums and chant the daimoku, followed by a Dharma talk from the head priest and a prayer service.

    Official website ↗
  • Araiyakushi BaishoinNakano Ward, Tokyo・Shingon sect Toyoyama school

    Yakushi Fair goma Prayer Memorial Service

    Goma prayer services are held on the 8th, 18th, and 28th of each month. Through this esoteric rite, prayers are offered to overcome worldly afflictions. Services begin at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Shoboji Temple (Oharano, Nishikyo Ward)Nishikyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Fudo goma offering rite

    The 41st temple of the Saigoku Forty-Nine Yakushi Pilgrimage. A Fudo goma rite is performed on the 8th of each month, the ennichi of Yakushi Nyorai, and worshipers offer their prayers.

    Official website ↗
  • Tsukino Yakushi Tozanji TempleShimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture・Jodo sect

    Yakushi Fair Memorial Service/Sermon

    A temple dedicated to Yakushi Nyorai, known as Tsukunoyakushi. Services and sermons are held on the 8th of each month at 10:00 a.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Akamon Shichibutsu YakushiZentsuji City, Kagawa Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Gohoraku/Akamon Yokaichi

    A stone statue of the Seven Buddhist Medicine Buddha statues is enshrined in front of the main temple Zentsuji Temple. Also called Chichiyakushi. Horaku is held on the 8th of each month, and a Yokaichi market is held on Akamonsuji.

    Official website ↗
  • Renkyuji TempleFujieda City, Shizuoka Prefecture・Nichiren sect

    Kishimojin Kaicho

    The 8th of each month is the ennichi of Kishimojin. On this day only, a hall dedicated to the deity of good luck Kishimo Daizen is opened, and a monthly-design goshudai and goshuin are given.

    Official website ↗
  • Sorinji TempleHigashiyama Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Medicine Buddha goma Prayer

    The principal image is Yakushi Ruriko Nyorai. Yakushi the temple performs goma at 11 a.m. on the 8th of each month, which is the Yakushi ennichi. Anyone may attend.

    Official website ↗

9th

In the Thirty Buddhas of the Month, the 9th is assigned to Mahabhijnajnanabhibhu Buddha. Although few observances are unique to this date, some shrines connected with Ontake devotion, which gives special significance to the number nine, and shrines dedicated to Daikoku observe the 9th as an ennichi.

Shrines - Fairs and monthly festivals

  • Chichibu Mitake Shrine (Togo Park)Hanno City, Saitama Prefecture・Shrine (Mitake faith)

    Festival (special ritual)

    Due to the belief in Ontake, which honors the number 9 the most, special rituals are held on the 9th, 18th, and 27th of monthly to bestow blessings.

    Official website ↗
  • Shimogamo Shrine (Gonsha)Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・shrine

    Kotosha Monthly Festival

    A monthly rite dedicated to Daikoku is held on the 9th of each month at Kotosha, a subsidiary shrine in front of the main shrine.

    Official website ↗
  • Tajima Mitake ShrineSakura Ward, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture・Shrine (Mitake faith)

    Monthly festival/Five Daison Goshin rituals

    A monthly rite is held on the 9th of each month, and the the kamiaison Otakiage Shinji ritual is also held. It is connected to the place where Fukan Gyoja, the founder of Mt. Kiso Ontake, practiced asceticism.

    Official website ↗
  • Bushu Ome Kotohira ShrineOme City, Tokyo・Shrine (Kotohira faith)

    Tsukinami Festival Yoimiya

    The Tsukinami Festival Yoimiya is held from the evening of the 9th of each month. The 9th is designated as Yoimiya in order to enshrine the Seven Stars Daigongen and Myoken Daigongen at Motomiya. On the following day, the 10th, Shinto rituals are held during the day.

    Official website ↗

10th

The 10th is the ennichi of Konpira, also written Kotohira. Revered for safety at sea and the fulfillment of prayers, Kotohira shrines throughout Japan hold monthly rites and toka-mairi pilgrimages. In some regions, Toka Ebisu observances are held on the same date.

Shrines: Konpira Ennichi/Monthly Festival

  • Toranomon Kotohira ShrineMinato Ward, Tokyo・shrine

    ten day festival

    The 10th of each month is designated as the ``Toka Matsuri'' ennichi at Kotohira Shrine, during which the grounds is opened and satokagura is dedicated.

    Official website ↗
  • Toka Ebisu ShrineHakata Ward, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture・shrine

    Monthly festival (10th)

    A monthly rite is held from 11:00 on the 10th of each month to pray for the health and safety of worshipers to Ebisu and Daikoku (except January).

    Official website ↗
  • Bessho Kotohira ShrineChuo Ward, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture・shrine

    ten day pilgrimage

    It is said that on the 10th of each month, people make a ``Tōka-mairi pilgrimage'' to Konpira Okami to receive special merits.

    Official website ↗
  • Kotohira ShrineSammu City, Chiba Prefecture・shrine

    Monthly festival (10th)

    Prayers are held at 9:00 a.m. on the 10th of each month, and the members of the public may enter the worship hall.

    Official website ↗
  • Kotohira ShrineIshioka City, Ibaraki Prefecture・shrine

    Monthly festival (10th)

    A monthly rite is held on the 10th of each month. Tradition holds that those who continue making monthly visits receive exceptional divine blessings.

    Official website ↗
  • Kotohira ShrineIwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture・shrine

    Monthly festival (10th)

    Monthly rites are held on the 1st and 10th of each month (except January).

    Official website ↗
  • Kotohira ShrineSaga City, Saga Prefecture・shrine

    Monthly festival (Kamanari ritual)

    Kamanari Shinji is held at the monthly rite on the 10th of each month, and visitors may attend and worship.

    Official website ↗
  • Nishinomiya ShrineNishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture・shrine

    Seasonal Festival/Blessing Festival Tokaichi

    The main headquarters of Ebisu Miya. The seasonal ennichi is held at 10 a.m. on the 1st, 10th, and 20th of each month. On the 10th, the ``Tokaichi'' ennichi is held to bring good luck and fortune, and it is crowded with worshipers.

    Official website ↗
  • Hatta Kotohira ShrineSammu City, Chiba Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    The monthly rite of Kotohira Shrine is held on the 10th of each month. Prayers are held from 9 a.m., and ordinary worshippers may enter the worship hall and participate.

    Official website ↗
  • Yasui Konpira ShrineHigashiyama Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・shrine

    Konpira monthly festival

    Monthly rites are held on the 1st and 10th of each month. The 10th is the ennichi of Konpira, with January 10th being the first Konpira and December 10th being the last Konpira.

    Official website ↗
  • Nemuro Kotohira ShrineNemuro City, Hokkaido・shrine

    Monthly Rite

    It is said that it was founded by Takadaya Kahee. The Tsukihajime-sai and monthly rite are held on the 1st and 10th of each month.

    Official website ↗
  • Bushu Ome Kotohira ShrineOme City, Tokyo・shrine

    Tsukinami Festival/Konpira Fune Funego Market

    The main Tsukinami Festival is held on the 10th of each month, which is the ennichi of Kotohira Shrine. Following the Yoimiya on the evening of the 9th, the main ennichi is held on the morning of the 10th, followed by the Konpira Fune Fune Market.

    Official website ↗

11th

In the Thirty Buddhas of the Month, the 11th is assigned to Hachiman Daibosatsu. Although few major ennichi are associated with this date, some shrines hold shunsai rites on the 1st, 11th, and 21st, while some temples observe an ennichi for Kobo Daishi.

Temples: Festival

  • Nishiarai Daishi (Sojiji Temple)Adachi Ward, Tokyo・Shingon sect Toyoyama school

    Kobo Daishi Festival

    The 11th of every month is observed as Nishiarai Daishi's ennichi.

    Official website ↗
  • Daikannonji TempleChuo Ward, Tokyo・St. Kannon sect

    Ennichi (Opening of the Gohonzon door)

    The principal image is an iron seated statue of Shokanzeon Bodhisattva. On the ennichi dates of the 11th and 17th of every month, the doors of its cabinet are opened for anyone to worship.

    Official website ↗

Shrines - seasonal festivals/monthly festivals

  • Yasukuni ShrineChiyoda Ward, Tokyo・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite is held on the 1st, 11th, and 21st of every month, the dates of the Shunsai observances.

    Official website ↗
  • Kashihara ShrineKashihara City, Nara Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite is held on the 1st, 11th, and 21st of every month to pray for the flourishing of the Imperial Family and the nation.

    Official website ↗

12th

Some temples observe the 12th as an ennichi of Yakushi Nyorai alongside the more common 8th. The date is also one of the 'days ending in two,' the 2nd, 12th, and 22nd, observed by Enmei Kosodate Jizoson in Arakawa, Tokyo.

Temples: Yakushi Fair

  • Yakushiji Temple Tokyo BranchShinagawa Ward, Tokyo・Hosso sect

    Yakushi Ennichi Grand Prajna Sutra Recitation Memorial Service

    The 12th of every month is observed as the Yakushi ennichi. The temple recites the Daihannya Sutra with worshippers, followed by a Dharma talk from the head priest.

    Official website ↗

13th

The 13th is the ennichi of Kokuzo Bodhisattva, well known through the Jusan-mairi tradition. Nichiren temples may also hold a hoonko service in memory of Nichiren Shonin, who died on the 13th, while some shrines hold their monthly rites on this date.

Temples: Kokuzo Festival/Goma

  • Muramatsuyama KokuzodoTokai Village, Ibaraki Prefecture・Shingon sect Toyoyama school

    Kokuzo Bosatsu Festival

    One of Japan's three principal Kokuzo Bosatsu images is enshrined here, and the 13th of every month is observed as Kokuzo Bosatsu's ennichi.

    Official website ↗
  • Koyasan Jimyoin TempleTakano Town, Wakayama Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Kajitori Fudoson goma offering rite

    Kandori Fudoson is the principal image. On the mornings of the 13th and 28th of every month, the temple performs a goma rite and prays for the fulfillment of wishes.

    Official website ↗
  • Daichoji TempleFujinomiya City, Shizuoka Prefecture・Jodo sect

    Kokuzo Bosatsudo Festival

    The 13th of every month is observed as the ennichi of Kokuzo Bosatsu Hall throughout the year.

    Official website ↗
  • Ikegami Daibo Hongyoji TempleOta Ward, Tokyo・Nichiren sect

    Holy Day Hoonko

    The 13th, the date on which Nichiren Shonin passed away, is a day of gratitude. A Hoonko service is held each month on that date.

    Official website ↗
  • Sendai Kokuzoson (Betto Daimanji)Taihaku Ward, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture・Soto sect

    Kokuzoson Festival

    The 13th of every month is observed as the ennichi of the principal image, Kokuzoson. Worshippers born in the Years of the Ox and Tiger visit to pray to their guardian Buddha for merit, good fortune, and wisdom.

    Official website ↗
  • Yagotoyama Koshoji TempleShowa Ward, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Nomando Kokuzo Bosatsu Festival

    An ennichi for the principal image, Kokuzo Bosatsu, is held at Nomando Hall at 10:00 a.m. on the 13th of every month. Stalls line the temple grounds in the morning.

    Official website ↗
  • Taiheiji TempleTennoji Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture・Soto sect

    Kokuzo Bosatsu Festival

    The ennichi of the principal image, Kokuzo Bosatsu, is held on the 13th of every month. The temple is known for Jusan Mairi, when children counted as age thirteen pray to receive wisdom and good fortune.

    Official website ↗
  • Yoganji Temple (Shinagawa Kokuzoson)Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo・Tendai sect

    Kokuzo Bodhisattva Monthly Festival

    The principal image is Kokuzo Bosatsu, known as Shinagawa Kokuzo. The 13th of every month is its ennichi, when the temple performs a goma rite in which prayer sticks bearing worshippers' wishes are placed into the sacred fire of wisdom to pray for their fulfillment.

    Official website ↗

Shrines – monthly festivals

  • Hakone Shrine (Kuzuryu Shrine Main Shrine)Hakone Town, Kanagawa Prefecture・shrine

    Kuzuryu Shrine Main Shrine Monthly Festival

    A monthly rite is held before the sanctuary of Kuzuryu Shrine's main shrine at 10:00 a.m. on the 13th of every month.

    Official website ↗
  • Hitokotonushi ShrineJoso City, Ibaraki Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite is held at 9:00 a.m. on the 13th of every month to pray for the flourishing of the Imperial Family and the peace of the local community, parishioners, and worshippers.

    Official website ↗
  • Owari Okunitama Shrine (Konomiya)Inazawa City, Aichi Prefecture・shrine

    Yakusaiko Festival

    The Yakusai Kosai rite is held at 11:00 a.m. on the 13th of every month to pray for members' household safety and good health.

    Official website ↗

14th

The 14th is assigned to Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. Few major observances are unique to the date, but some temples hold sutra-copying sessions or ennichi observances on dates ending in four, the 4th, 14th, and 24th.

Temples: Sutra copying and fairs

  • Zojoji TempleMinato Ward, Tokyo・Jodo sect

    Sutra copying session

    A sutra-copying gathering is held on the 14th of every month. Registration opens at noon, a Dharma talk begins at 1:20 p.m., and the sutra-copying service begins at 2:00 p.m. The gathering is suspended in July and August.

    Official website ↗
  • Koganji Temple (Togenuki Jizo)Toshima Ward, Tokyo・Soto sect

    Jizo Festival

    The 4th, 14th, and 24th of every month are Jizo's ennichi dates. On these days, Jizo Hall remains open until 8:00 p.m. for worshippers.

    Official website ↗
  • Sengakuji TempleMinato Ward, Tokyo・Soto sect

    prayer

    Prayers are offered at 11:00 a.m. on the 14th of every month. Advance reservations are required.

    Official website ↗
  • Yagiyama Fukutokuin (daily Jizo statue)Konan Ward, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Higiri Jizo Ennichi

    This Jizo hall enshrines Higiri Jizoson. Every date containing the number four, the 4th, 14th, and 24th, is an ennichi, and worshippers also visit on the 14th. Tradition holds that prayers made with a set deadline will be fulfilled.

    Official website ↗

15th

The 15th is the ennichi of Amida Nyorai, a date observed since the Heian period. As the day of the full moon, it is also one of the principal dates, together with the 1st, when shrines throughout Japan hold monthly rites. Some shrines observe Myoken's ennichi on the 15th.

Temples: Amida Festival

  • Ennoji TempleChuo Ward, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture・Jodo sect

    Amida Nyorai Festival

    On the 15th of every month, the ennichi of the principal image Amida Nyorai, the temple holds Jo meditation, a volunteer cleaning practice, and a temple market.

    Official website ↗
  • Nose MyokenyamaNose Town, Osaka Prefecture・Nichiren sect

    Myoken Daibodhisattva Festival

    This is a sacred site of North Star worship. The 15th of every month is Myoken Daibosatsu's ennichi, and the annual Grand Festival of Myoken Daibosatsu is held on May 15.

    Official website ↗
  • Zenkoji TempleNagano City, Nagano Prefecture・Tendai sect/Jodo sect

    Great Hannya-kai

    The principal image is Ikko Sanzon Amida Nyorai. On the 15th of every month, the temple holds a Daihannya-e service, reciting all six hundred fascicles of the Daihannya Sutra in a rapid reading to dispel hardship and pray for good fortune. Depending on the month, the service is held once or twice, during morning worship and at noon.

    Official website ↗
  • Hyakumanben Chionji TempleKyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Jodo sect

    Sutra copying session and large prayer beads

    This is a head temple of the Jodo school. On the 15th of every month, participants copy the Ichimai Kishomon at a morning sutra-copying gathering and perform O-juzu-guri during an afternoon service in the main hall. Amida Hall, which enshrines Amida Buddha, also opens on this date.

    Official website ↗

Shrines – monthly festivals

  • Taikodani Inari ShrineTsuwano Town, Shimane Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    At 11:00 a.m. on the 1st and 15th of every month, the shrine gives thanks for divine blessings and prays for the flourishing of its worshippers and the fulfillment of their wishes. The rite is not held on certain dates.

    Official website ↗
  • Omiya Hachiman ShrineSuginami Ward, Tokyo・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite is held on the 15th of every month to give thanks for divine blessings and pray for the flourishing of the Imperial Family, parishioners, and worshippers.

    Official website ↗
  • Matsuo Taisha ShrineNishikyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite is held on the 1st and 15th of every month, except on January 1.

    Official website ↗
  • Iwashimizu Hachimangu ShrineYawata City, Kyoto Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite is held at 10:00 a.m. on the 15th of every month, except in September.

    Official website ↗
  • Niigata general guardian Hakusan ShrineChuo Ward, Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite is held on the 1st, 15th, and 28th of every month.

    Official website ↗
  • Nagatani Tenmangu ShrineKonan Ward, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture・shrine

    Suesha Monthly Festival

    A monthly rite for the auxiliary shrines begins at 9:00 a.m. on the 15th of every month, proceeding in order to the auxiliary shrines, Fudo, and Sengen Shrine.

    Official website ↗
  • Hokkaido ShrineSapporo City, Hokkaido・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite is held on the 15th of every month, or on the 20th in June and August. The shrine gives thanks for divine blessings and prays for the health of everyone born that month.

    Official website ↗
  • Isasumi ShrineAizumisato Town, Fukushima Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    This shrine is the ichinomiya of Iwashiro Province. A monthly rite is held at 10:00 a.m. on the 15th of every month. Rites are also held that morning at Hakusan Shrine and other shrines within the grounds.

    Official website ↗
  • Nezu ShrineBunkyo Ward, Tokyo・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite begins at 8:30 a.m. on the 1st, 15th, and 21st of every month. Anyone may attend and pray for the nation's prosperity and the peace of parishioners and worshippers.

    Official website ↗
  • Hie ShrineChiyoda Ward, Tokyo・shrine

    monthly festival

    In connection with the annual festival on June 15, a monthly rite is held on the 15th of every month. Those who register at the Minami Shinmon gate by 8:45 a.m. may attend.

    Official website ↗
  • Hakone ShrineHakone Town, Kanagawa Prefecture・shrine

    Monthly festival to visit both companies

    On the 1st and 15th of every month, the monthly rite at Hakone Shrine is followed by one at Kuzuryu Shrine's new sanctuary. The rites begin at 8:00 a.m. from January through November and at 9:00 a.m. in December.

    Official website ↗
  • Aichi Prefecture Gokoku ShrineNagoya City, Aichi Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite is held at 9:00 a.m. on the 1st and 15th of every month. It gives thanks for daily divine blessings and prays for the health and peace of bereaved families and worshippers.

    Official website ↗
  • Omiwa ShrineSakurai City, Nara Prefecture・shrine

    Kosha Sokeikai Monthly Festival

    The Kosha Sukeikai monthly rite is held on the 15th of every month. It prays for the flourishing and safety of its association members and worshippers, together with a traffic-safety prayer rite.

    Official website ↗
  • Izumo Taisha Shrine Kitajima KokuzokanIzumo City, Shimane Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    Izumo-kyo at Kitajima Kokuzokan holds a monthly rite on the 1st and 15th of every month, praying for national peace, abundant harvests, and the household safety of parishioners and worshippers.

    Official website ↗
  • Tamura ShrineTakamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture・shrine

    Ichinomiya Inari Daimyojin Monthly Festival

    This is the ichinomiya of Sanuki Province. On the 15th of every month, a monthly rite is held for Ichinomiya Inari Daimyojin within the shrine grounds.

    Official website ↗
  • Hakozaki ShrineFukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    One of Japan's three great Hachiman shrines, it holds a monthly rite on the 1st and 15th of every month, except January 1 and September 15.

    Official website ↗
  • Kehi ShrineTsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    This shrine is the ichinomiya of Echizen Province and the chief guardian shrine of the Hokuriku region. A monthly rite is held on the 15th of every month, and a Sakutansai rite on the 1st.

    Official website ↗
  • Osaki Hachiman ShrineSendai City, Miyagi Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    Known for its National Treasure sanctuary, the shrine holds a monthly rite on the 15th of every month, Hachiman's ennichi, to give thanks for divine blessings and pray for the prosperity of parishioners and worshippers. A Tsukihajimesai rite is held on the 1st of every month.

    Official website ↗
  • Omoto Munetada ShrineOkayama City, Okayama Prefecture・Kurosumi Kyou

    Hishin Festival

    The Nisshinsai rite begins at 9:00 a.m. on the 15th of every month to give thanks to the sun deity. It is one of the shrine's monthly observances, together with the Kaiunsai on the 1st and Kyososai on the 25th.

    Official website ↗
  • Ishikiyo Hachiman ShrineTakamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    This is Takamatsu's tutelary shrine. A monthly rite begins at 10:00 a.m. on the 1st and 15th of every month, except January 1, May 1, and October 15.

    Official website ↗
  • Fujisaki Hachimangu ShrineKumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    The chief guardian shrine of Kumamoto holds a monthly rite at 10:00 a.m. on the 1st and 15th of every month.

    Official website ↗
  • Tanashi ShrineNishi-Tokyo City, Tokyo・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite is held on the 1st and 15th of every month to pray for the flourishing of the Imperial Family and nation, and for the health and happiness of parishioners and worshippers.

    Official website ↗

16th

The 16th is the ennichi of King Enma and is associated with Hatsu-Enma and the abstinence days. Many temples also observe Kangiten, or Shoten, on the 1st and 16th. Shin Buddhist temples hold services on the 16th, the monthly memorial day of Shinran Shonin.

Temples: Enma/Shoten Festival

  • Zuishin-in TempleYamashina Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Shingon sect Zentsuji school

    Shoten festival bath oil offering

    On the 1st and 16th of every month, the ennichi dates of Shoten (Kangiten), the temple performs a Yokuyu-ku rite with offerings of daikon radish and kangidan sweets.

    Official website ↗
  • Honganji Temple (Nishi Honganji Temple)Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Jodo Shinshu Honganji school

    Memorial service for the death of the founder of the sect

    On the 16th of every month, Shinran Shonin's monthly memorial day, a Founder's Monthly Memorial Service and Dharma talk are held in Goeido Hall.

    Official website ↗
  • Shoenji Temple (Shoten-san of Tengachaya)Abeno Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Seiten/Fudo Myoo Festival

    On the ennichi dates of the 1st and 16th of every month, Shoten Yokuyu prayers and a Fudo Myoo goma rite are performed at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Tenmyoji TempleMaebashi City, Gunma Prefecture・Shingon sect Toyoyama school

    Holy heaven bath oil offering

    On the 1st and 16th of every month, Shoten's ennichi dates, the temple performs a Shoten Yokuyu-ku rite and prays for worshippers' wishes.

    Official website ↗
  • Sorinin (Yamashina Shoten)Yamashina Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Shoten Festival Hanasuiku

    On the 16th of every month, Shoten's ennichi, the temple performs a Kesui-ku rite and offers prayers through the Yokuyu practice.

    Official website ↗
  • Kangenji Temple (Saijo Shoten)Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Shoten Festival

    On the 16th of every month, Shoten's ennichi, visitors may enter Shoten Hall, which is normally closed to the public. Reservations are required.

    Official website ↗
  • Senbon Enmado TempleKamigyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Enma Ennichi Special Memorial Service

    On the 16th of every month, Enma's ennichi, the temple unveils its principal image of King Enma and holds Dharma talks and ancestral memorial services at 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Daifukudaji Temple (Kuwana Shoten)Kuwana City, Mie Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Kuwana Shoten Monthly Festival

    The Kuwana Shoten Monthly Festival is held on the 1st and 16th of every month, Shoten's ennichi dates. The temple performs a goma rite with prayer sticks and prays for visitors' wishes in Shoten Hall.

    Official website ↗
  • Hozanji Temple (Ikoma Shoten)Ikoma City, Nara Prefecture・Shingon Ritsu sect

    Kankiten Festival

    An ennichi for Daisho Kangiten is held on the 1st and 16th of every month. On the 16th, visitors may worship in the inner sanctuary of Shoten Hall, also called Tendo, which is normally inaccessible.

    Official website ↗
  • Sorinji TempleHigashiyama Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Delightful heavenly bathing oil prayer

    The temple enshrines Yakushi Nyorai and Daisho Kangiten. It performs Yokuyu prayers, an esoteric Shoten practice, on the ennichi dates of the 1st or 16th of every month.

    Official website ↗
  • Sohonzan Zentsuji ShotendoZentsuji City, Kagawa Prefecture・Shingon sect Zentsuji school

    Seitendo Monthly Puja

    Shoten Hall enshrines Daisho Kangiten, affectionately known as Shoten-san. A monthly puja is held there on the ennichi dates of the 1st and 16th of every month.

    Official website ↗
  • Myoo-in Temple (Godaido Hall)Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture・Shingon sect Omuro school

    Kankitengo festival

    Godaido Hall enshrines the Five Great Myoo, with Fudo Myoo at their center. The 16th of every month is Kangiten's ennichi, and sutras are chanted in the main hall from 2:00 p.m. Anyone may attend.

  • Daifushoji Temple (Oi Shoten)Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo・Tendai sect

    Seiten-sama festival

    Sutra chanting and a Dharma talk are held on the 16th of every month for Shoten's ennichi. From the 1st through the 7th of every month, the temple also performs Daisho Kangiten Yokuyu prayers.

    Official website ↗

Shrines – monthly festivals

  • Tonomiya Shiho ShrineTaiki Town, Mie Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    On the 16th of every month, regarded by the shrine as an auspicious day, a monthly rite is held to pray for the peace of the Imperial Family and worshippers.

    Official website ↗

17th

Some temples observe the 17th as the ennichi of Thousand-Armed Kannon, alongside traditions assigning the deity to the 7th or 18th. Temples perform Kannon goma and sutra recitation, while some shrines hold monthly rites on the 17th.

Temples: Kannon Ennichi Observance/Goma

  • Ryugasaki Kannon Ryusenji TempleRyugasaki City, Ibaraki Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Kannon Ennichi Observance goma offering rite

    The 17th of every month is observed as Kannon's ennichi. The temple performs a great goma rite and chants the Kannon Sutra with worshippers.

    Official website ↗
  • Tachiki Kannon (Anyoji Temple)Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Kannon festival

    The 17th of every month is Kannon's ennichi, a day to form a bond with Kannon and pray for protection from misfortune and the fulfillment of wishes.

    Official website ↗
  • Kasamori Kannon (Kasamori Temple)Chonan Town, Chiba Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Kannon Fair Grand Hannya-kai

    A Daihannya-e service begins at 11:00 a.m. on Kannon's ennichi dates, the 17th and 18th of every month.

    Official website ↗
  • Yanagidani Kannon Yokokuji TempleNagaokakyo City, Kyoto Prefecture・Nishiyama Jodo sect

    Yanagidani festival

    On the ennichi of the 17th of every month, the temple specially unveils its principal image, holds a Hyakumanben great rosary ceremony, and gives an ennichi sermon.

    Official website ↗
  • Raizan Sennyo-ji Temple Daihio-in TempleItoshima City, Fukuoka Prefecture・Shingon sect Daikakuji school

    Honzon Festival goma offering rite

    On the principal image's ennichi, the 17th of every month, the temple performs three goma rites at 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 12:30 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Seijoyama Kounji TempleSetagaya Ward, Tokyo・Soto sect

    Kannon festival

    The Kannon Sutra is chanted at 1:30 p.m. on the 17th of every month, followed by a tea-offering ceremony and prayers for the fulfillment of wishes.

    Official website ↗
  • Shitennoji TempleTennoji Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture・Japanese sect

    Lotus Eight Lectures

    On the 17th of every month, the temple conducts the Hokke Hakko-e service in the lecture hall, with shomyo chanting and debate on the eight fascicles of the Lotus Sutra.

    Official website ↗
  • Daikannonji TempleChuo Ward, Tokyo・St. Kannon sect

    Gohonzon open door

    The principal image is an iron seated statue of Shokanzeon Bodhisattva. On the ennichi dates of the 11th and 17th of every month, the doors of its cabinet are opened for anyone to worship.

    Official website ↗
  • SenzoinNagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture・Shingon sect Toyoyama school

    Festival goma

    The principal image is Senju Kanzeon Bodhisattva. On its ennichi, the 17th of every month, the temple performs an ennichi goma rite and daily service from 11:00 a.m. to noon.

    Official website ↗
  • Saidaiji KannoninHigashi Ward, Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Visiting Kannon

    The principal image is Senju Kanzeon Bodhisattva. Kannon worship is held in Goosho Hall from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. on the 17th of every month, with goma-stick prayers, a Dharma talk, and hospitality for visitors.

    Official website ↗
  • Fuwashi Kannonji TempleKurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture・Shingon sect isolated

    Festival memorial service

    The principal image is Eleven-Faced Kanzeon Bodhisattva. The 17th of every month is its ennichi, when the temple solemnly conducts an ennichi service in the main hall. Anyone may enter the hall and pray that day.

  • Kannonji TempleNaruto City, Tokushima Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Goma prayer

    The principal image is Shokanzeon Bodhisattva. On its ennichi, the 17th of every month, the temple performs a goma rite and prays for traffic safety, household safety, and other wishes.

    Official website ↗
  • SenjuinSasaguri Town, Kasuya District, Fukuoka Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    monthly festival

    This temple is part of the Sasaguri Shikoku pilgrimage. A monthly puja begins at 11:00 a.m. on the 17th of every month, Kannon's ennichi.

    Official website ↗
  • Wakamatsuji Temple (Wakamatsu Kannon)Tendo City, Yamagata Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Kannon goma

    Known as a Kannon who brings people together, the temple performs a Kannon goma rite in Kannon Hall at 11:00 a.m. on the 17th of every month, Kannon's ennichi. Visitors may offer goma prayer sticks.

    Official website ↗
  • Aburayama Kannon Shogakuji TempleJonan Ward, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture・Rinzai sect

    Kannon festival

    The principal image is Shokannon. An ennichi service is held in the main hall at noon on the 17th of every month, Kannon's ennichi.

    Official website ↗
  • Kannon-in TempleNishi Ward, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Koyasu Kannon Festival

    The 17th and 18th of every month are Koyasu Kannon's ennichi dates. Open every day of the year, the temple holds three services daily at 10:00 a.m., noon, and 2:00 p.m., including on both ennichi dates.

    Official website ↗

Shrines – monthly festivals

  • Tokyo Daijingu ShrineChiyoda Ward, Tokyo・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite is held on the 17th of every month, a date connected with the shrine's founding, to pray for the prosperity of the Imperial Family and nation. Grand festivals replace it in February, April, and October.

    Official website ↗
  • Kuwana Shrine (Kasuga Shrine)Kuwana City, Mie Prefecture・shrine

    Kuwana Shrine Monthly Festival

    Kuwana Shrine holds a monthly rite on the 17th of every month.

    Official website ↗

18th

The 18th is the ennichi of Kanzeon Bodhisattva, with the first observance of the year known as Hatsu-Kannon. The oldest known literary record of an ennichi concerns this date. Kannon sacred sites and halls throughout Japan hold ennichi observances, goma rites, and pujas on the 18th of each month.

Temples: Kannon Ennichi Observance/Goma

  • Sensoji TempleTaito Ward, Tokyo・St. Kannon sect

    Gohonzon festival memorial service

    The 18th of every month is Kanzeon Bodhisattva's ennichi. A service for the principal image begins in the main hall at 2:00 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Ninnaji TempleUkyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Shingon sect Omuro school

    Kannon-kai/Kannon sermon

    The 18th of every month is observed as Kannon's ennichi. Kannon-e services and Dharma talks are held in Kannon Hall at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Tokeiji TempleKamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture・Rinzai sect Engakuji school

    Suigetsu Kannon opening ceremony

    On the 18th of every month, Kannon's ennichi, the Suigetsu Kannon statue is specially unveiled, followed by sutra chanting and a talk.

    Official website ↗
  • Osu Kannon (Hoshoin)Naka Ward, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture・Shingon sect Chizan school

    great goma/Great Hannya Tendokukai

    On the 18th of every month, the ennichi of the principal image Shokannon, the temple performs goma rites at 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., followed in the evening by a Daihannya Tendoku-e service.

    Official website ↗
  • Koyamadera (Tomiya Kannon)Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Eleven-faced Kannon goma offering rite

    On the 18th of every month at 11:00 a.m., the ennichi of the principal image Eleven-Faced Kannon, the temple performs a goma rite that anyone may attend.

    Official website ↗
  • Abiko Kannonji Temple (Daisho Kannonji Temple)Sumiyoshi Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture・Japanese sect

    Kannon festival gate opening and prayer

    On the ennichi dates of the 1st and 18th of every month, the gates open at 5:30 a.m. and prayers begin in the main hall at 6:00 a.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Kyumakei KannonKamitonda Town, Wakayama Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon sect

    Bato Kannon month festival goma prayer

    On the 18th of every month, the monthly ennichi of the principal image Bato Kanzeon Bodhisattva, the temple solemnly performs a goma rite in Fudo Hall.

    Official website ↗
  • Kasamori Kannon (Kasamori Temple)Chonan Town, Chiba Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Kannon Fair Grand Hannya-kai

    A Daihannya-e service begins at 11:00 a.m. on Kannon's ennichi dates, the 17th and 18th of every month.

    Official website ↗
  • NakayamaderaTakarazuka City, Hyogo Prefecture・Shingon sect Nakayamaji school

    Gohonzon Open Door Puja

    On the 18th of every month, the temple holds a service for the unveiling of its principal image, Eleven-Faced Kanzeon Bodhisattva, which is open to worshippers from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Hasedera Temple (Kamakura Hasedera Temple)Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture・Jodo sect system

    Kannon-kai

    A Kannon-e service is held on the 18th of every month, the ennichi of the principal image Eleven-Faced Kannon.

    Official website ↗
  • Tsubosakaji Temple (Minamihokkeji Temple)Takatori Town, Nara Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Kannon festival sermon

    The 18th of every month, except in February, June, and July, is Kannon's ennichi. A talk by the head priest and various services begin at 11:30 a.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Nishiarai Daishi (Sojiji Temple)Adachi Ward, Tokyo・Shingon sect Toyoyama school

    Botan Kannon Festival

    An ennichi for Botan Kannon is held on the 18th of every month.

    Official website ↗
  • Naritasan Makyuji TempleAsahikawa City, Hokkaido・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Nyoirin Kannon goma offering rite

    The temple performs an ennichi goma rite for the principal image, Nyoirin Kannon, in Rokkakudo Hall at 1:00 p.m. on the 18th of every month, praying for health, longevity, and recovery from illness.

    Official website ↗
  • Daikanmitsuji Temple (Sendai Daikannon)Izumi Ward, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Ennichi sermon/Ennichi goma

    The principal image is Byakue Kannon. The 18th of every month is Kannon's ennichi. An ennichi Dharma talk begins at 11:30 a.m., and the temple also performs a goma rite by reservation.

    Official website ↗
  • Sugimotoji TempleKamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Honzon Gokaicho/goma offering rite

    This is the first temple of the Bando Thirty-Three Kannon Pilgrimage. On the ennichi dates of the 1st and 18th of every month, the temple unveils three normally hidden images of the principal deity, Eleven-Faced Kannon, and performs a goma rite.

    Official website ↗
  • Gumyoji TempleMinami Ward, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Kannon goma offering rite

    On the ennichi dates of the 8th, 18th, and 28th of every month, the temple performs a goma rite for its principal image, Eleven-Faced Kannon, from 2:00 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Higashieizan Kan'eiji Temple Komyo-kakuTaito Ward, Tokyo・Tendai sect

    Kannon festival memorial service

    The 18th of every month is Kannon's ennichi, when the temple holds a memorial service before Kannon. Komyokaku belongs to Kaneiji Temple in Ueno.

    Official website ↗
  • Seiryuzan Shinpukuji TempleOkaya City, Nagano Prefecture・Shingon sect Chizan school

    St. Kannon Festival goma

    The temple performs an ennichi goma rite for Shokannon in Kannon Hall for about fifty minutes from 9:00 a.m. on the 18th of every month. Visitors may enter and leave freely, and no admission fee is charged.

    Official website ↗
  • IshiyamaderaOtsu City, Shiga Prefecture・Toji Shingon sect

    Kannon Fair, Ugyutama-san

    The principal image is Nyoirin Kannon. The 18th of every month is Kannon's ennichi, with a morning service in the main hall. A market called Go-san is held before the temple gate.

    Official website ↗
  • Taiyuji TempleKita Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Kannon sutra reading session

    A Kannon Sutra chanting service begins at 1:00 p.m. on the 18th of every month before the principal image, Senju Kannon, in the main hall.

    Official website ↗
  • Kannon-in TempleNishi Ward, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Koyasu Kannon Festival

    The 17th and 18th of every month are Koyasu Kannon's ennichi dates. The temple is open every day of the year and holds three services daily at 10:00 a.m., noon, and 2:00 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Ishigakiyama Kannonji TempleKurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Goma prayer for Kannon festival

    The 18th of every month is Kannon's ennichi. The temple performs a goma rite at 10:00 a.m. and offers prayers for good fortune and protection from misfortune for every worshipper.

    Official website ↗
  • Jigen-in Temple (Takasaki White-robed Kannon)Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Ennichi Daigomoku

    This temple on Mount Kannon enshrines Byakue Daikannon. On dates containing the number eight, the 8th, 18th, and 28th of every month, it solemnly performs a great ennichi goma rite at 10:00 a.m. The 18th is Kannon's ennichi.

    Official website ↗
  • Takimi KannondoNiiza City, Saitama Prefecture・Zen Buddhism

    Kannon-ko

    A Kannon-ko gathering is held from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. on the 18th of every month. Participants chant the Kannon Sutra and quietly join their hands in prayer. No advance registration is required, and beginners are welcome.

    Official website ↗
  • Kinpusen Hasedera TempleShinonoi, Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Kannon festival goma memorial service

    This is the eighteenth temple of the Shinano Thirty-Three Kannon Pilgrimage and one of Japan's three Hase Kannon temples. On the 18th of every month, the ennichi of the principal image Eleven-Faced Kannon, the temple performs a Shingon Esoteric Buddhist goma rite as a memorial offering.

    Official website ↗
  • Renko-in Temple Hatsuma-dera TempleTsu City, Mie Prefecture・Shingon sect Omuro school

    Bato Kannon Festival

    Known as Tsu no Hatsuuma-san, this sacred site is visited for protection from misfortune. The 18th of every month is Kannon's ennichi, and the Bato Kannon Festival for the principal image begins at 10:00 a.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Kakurinji TempleKakogawa City, Hyogo Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Kannon-ko

    A Kannon-ko gathering begins at 2:00 p.m. on the 18th of every month. Devotees gather to chant the Kannon Sutra and listen to a Dharma talk.

    Official website ↗
  • Joshoji TempleMinami Ward, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture・Nichiren sect

    Kishimojin festival

    On the 8th, 18th, and 28th of every month, Kishimojin's ennichi dates, the temple offers prayers for protection from childhood ailments, clarity of mind, and other wishes.

    Official website ↗

19th

The 19th is the ennichi of Horse-Headed Kannon. A separate tradition of waiting for the nineteenth-night moon, centered on Cintamanicakra Kannon, also survives in many regions.

Temples: Bato Kannon Ennichi Observance/Goma

  • Sensoji Temple KomagatadoTaito Ward, Tokyo・St. Kannon sect

    Bato Kannon Festival

    On the 19th of every month, the temple unveils its principal image, Bato Kannon, and holds a service.

    Official website ↗
  • Kamioka Bato Kanzeon Myoanji TempleHigashimatsuyama City, Saitama Prefecture・Soto sect

    Monthly festival (Bato Kannon)

    A monthly ennichi is held from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on the 19th of every month, with a horse Kannon pilgrimage at about 10:00 a.m. It is suspended in July and August.

    Official website ↗
  • Nanasawa Kannonji TempleAtsugi City, Kanagawa Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Bato Kannon Fair goma Line

    On the 19th of every month, the monthly ennichi of Bato Kannon, the temple performs a goma rite in the main hall and also holds a joint memorial service for animals.

    Official website ↗
  • Shoyuji TempleNose Town, Osaka Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Zao Gongen goma Prayer Meeting

    On the 19th of every month, the temple solemnly performs a goma prayer rite for Zao Gongen and holds a puja to dispel troubles.

    Official website ↗
  • Horinouchi Myohoji TempleSuginami Ward, Tokyo・Nichiren sect

    Shichijikai (Nichimen-sama)

    At 1:00 p.m. on the 19th of every month, the Lotus Sutra is chanted in the main hall and prayers are offered for Shichimen-sama's protection.

    Official website ↗

Shrines – monthly festivals

  • Kirishima ShrineKirishima City, Kagoshima Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite is held at the main sanctuary on the 19th of every month. It prays for the peace of the Imperial Family, the nation's prosperity, and the peace of parishioners and worshippers. The annual festival also falls on September 19.

    Official website ↗

20th

The 20th is assigned to Eleven-Faced Kannon in one tradition. Some temples also perform an evening goma for Yoi Daishi, the eve of Kobo Daishi's monthly memorial day.

Temples: Yodaishi/Kannon Festival

  • Kawasaki Daishi Heikenji TempleKawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Yodaishi great goma offering rite

    At 7:00 p.m. on the 20th of every month, the eve of Kobo Daishi's monthly memorial day on the 21st, the temple solemnly performs the Yoi Daishi great goma rite.

    Official website ↗
  • Sumadera (Fukujoji)Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture・Shingon sect Sumaji school

    Daishi Festival Regular goma Offering

    During the Daishi ennichi on the 20th and 21st of every month, the temple performs its regular Fudo goma rite from 10:00 a.m. on the 20th, followed by a special memorial dedication.

    Official website ↗
  • Sekigyoji Temple (Iwanami Kannon)Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Eleven-faced Kannon goma prayer

    At 10:00 a.m. on the 20th of every month, the ennichi of the principal image Eleven-Faced Kannon, the temple solemnly performs a goma rite lasting about one hour.

    Official website ↗
  • Koyasan OkunoinTakano Town, Wakayama Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Night walk

    The 21st of every month is called Odaishi-sama's Day, commemorating Kobo Daishi Kukai's entry into eternal meditation on the twenty-first day of the third lunar month. On the preceding evening, the 20th of every month, worshippers gather at Ichinohashi at 7:00 p.m. and walk along the main approach to the mausoleum by lantern light.

    Official website ↗

21st

The 21st is the ennichi of Kobo Daishi, Kukai, and the date of the monthly Mieku memorial service. Derived from the anniversary of his death on March 21, Shingon temples hold Mieku services, goma rites, and Daishi ennichi observances each month. Toji Temple's Kobo Market is especially well known.

Temples: Daishi Festival/Mikageku

  • Kyoo Gokokuji Temple (Toji Temple)Minami Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Toji Shingon sect

    Mikagegu

    On the 21st of every month from 10:00 a.m., Mieku is held at Mieido, and a Kobouichi market is set up within the precincts.

    Official website ↗
  • Kawasaki Daishi Heikenji TempleKawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Kobo Daishi Festival goma

    On the 21st of every month, which is the anniversary of Kobo Daishi's death, several goma ceremonies are performed each day, including a large prayer meeting for the safety of believers at 6 o'clock.

    Official website ↗
  • Nishiarai Daishi (Sojiji Temple)Adachi Ward, Tokyo・Shingon sect Toyoyama school

    Kobo Daishi Festival

    The 21st of every month is the festival of Kobo Daishi, which is visited by many pilgrims, and the garden market is held on the 21st from March to May.

    Official website ↗
  • Sumadera (Fukujoji)Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture・Shingon sect Sumaji school

    Daishi Ennichi Mikageku

    On the 21st of every month, Kobo Daishi Mikageku is held from 5:30am, and Fudo goma offering rite is held at 10:00 a.m. and 2pm.

    Official website ↗
  • Ninnaji TempleUkyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Shingon sect Omuro school

    Mikagegu

    On the 21st of every month, from 9:30 a.m., the temple practice the Mieku of the founder of the sect, Kobo Daishi, at Mieido.

    Official website ↗
  • NakayamaderaTakarazuka City, Hyogo Prefecture・Shingon sect Nakayamaji school

    Mikagegu

    On the 21st of every month from 10:00 a.m., the temple serves as a mieku of Kobo Daishi Kukai at the Daishi-do Hall.

    Official website ↗
  • Hasedera templeSakurai City, Nara Prefecture・Shingon sect Toyoyama school

    Kobo Daishi Mikageku

    On the 21st of every month, a ceremony is held to commemorate Kobo Daishi Kukai, the founder of the Shingon sect.

    Official website ↗
  • Kakuozan Nittaiji TempleChikusa Ward, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture・super sect

    Kobo Daishi Festival

    The 21st of every month is celebrated as Kobo Daishi's death anniversary, and stalls line the approach to the shrine.

    Official website ↗
  • Taiyuji TempleKita Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Daishido Toba Eko

    An ancestor memorial service is held on the 21st of every month from 10:00 a.m. to noon at the Daishi-do Hall, where the Kyogi Toba is transferred.

    Official website ↗
  • Koyasan Tokyo BranchMinato Ward, Tokyo・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Mikageku/Goma puja

    On the 21st of every month, the temple serves as a mieiku, chants a poem at 1:00 p.m., holds a sermon at 1:20 p.m., and holds a goma puja at 2:00 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Koboji TempleMinato Ward, Tokyo・Shingon sect

    Goma prayer meeting/Mikageku

    On the 21st of every month from 6:00 p.m., the temple holds a goma prayer meeting as a Mieku to express gratitude to Kobo Daishi.

    Official website ↗
  • Hattasan Soneiji TempleFukuroi City, Shizuoka Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Tsukinami Mikageku

    The 21st of every month is called the day of reward, and Tsukinami Mieku is held at Daishi-do Hall. Decorate the image of the shrine and recite chants. The general public can also attend.

    Official website ↗
  • Shinpukuji TempleSuzuka City, Mie Prefecture・Shingon sect Toyoyama school

    Daishi-san Mikageku

    The temple holds a Mieku ceremony on the 21st of every month, which is Daishi's day. Sutra copying meetings and Warashibe Choja Market are also held.

    Official website ↗
  • Hoshoji TempleGifu City, Gifu Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Kobo Daishi Festival goma Prayer

    On the 21st of every month, the ennichi of Kobo Daishi, the temple perform the goma prayer for good health from 1:00 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Chiryu Kobozan HenshoinChiryu City, Aichi Prefecture・Shingon sect Toyoyama school

    Kobo Daishi Festival goma Prayer

    An ennichi observance is held on the 21st of every month, commemorating the anniversary of Kobo Daishi's death, and a goma prayer is held at Fudo-do from 10:00 a.m.. Stalls line the approach.

    Official website ↗
  • Komyoho-in TempleNachikatsuura Town, Wakayama Prefecture・Komyo Shingon sect

    Daishi-sama festival

    A memorial service begins at 10:00 a.m. on the 21st of every month, Kobo Daishi's ennichi. A Dharma talk follows the midday settai hospitality.

    Official website ↗
  • Head temple ZentsujiZentsuji City, Kagawa Prefecture・Shingon sect Zentsuji school

    Monthly Mikageku

    On the 21st of every month, a monthly Mieku is held at Mieido from 11:00 a.m.. A sutra copying session will also be held at Henjokaku from 10 a.m. on the same day.

    Official website ↗
  • Kannon-in TempleNishi Ward, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Daishi festival to ward off evil spirits

    The 20th and 21st of every month are designated as the Daishi Festival to ward off evil spirits, and are celebrated as the ennichi dates for Kobo Daishi.

    Official website ↗
  • Yoshimi Kannon Anrakuji TempleYoshimi Town, Saitama Prefecture・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Mikagegu

    The 21st of every month is the ennichi for the founder of the sect, Kobo Daishi, and a memorial service called Mieku is held. Monks gather together to recite sutras and offer gratitude. Anyone can visit.

    Official website ↗
  • Horakuji TempleHigashisumiyoshi Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture・Shingon sect Sennyuji school

    Kobo Daishi Festival

    An ancient temple known as Tanabe Fudoson. The 21st of every month is designated as Kobo Daishi's ennichi, with sutra copying at noon, a service at 2 p.m., and a sermon at 3 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Fudarakuzan Tanjoin Chokoji TempleOmihachiman City, Shiga Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Kobo Daishi festival memorial service

    A memorial service is held on the 21st of every month, which is the anniversary of Kobo Daishi's death. Perform a goma prayer with your wishes on the goma stick.

    Official website ↗
  • Mame DaishisonHikone City, Shiga Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Kobo Daishi Mikageku

    From 11am on the 21st of every month, the temple solemnly perform Kobo Daishi Mieku. January 21st is the first kobo, and December 21st is the last kobo.

    Official website ↗
  • Mt. Mani Saikokuji TempleOnomichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture・Shingon sect Daigo school

    Kobo Daishi Mikageku Puja

    On the 21st of every month, from 2:00 p.m., the temple holds a Kobo Daishi Mikage memorial service and an ancestor memorial service at Daishido. On the 8th day, a Fudo goma prayer meeting is also held.

    Official website ↗
  • Ichinotaki TempleSasaguri Town, Fukuoka Prefecture・Shingon sect Daigo school

    Tsukigoma memorial service

    Sasaguri is one of the 88 sacred sites in Shikoku. Kobo Daishi is enshrined in the main hall, and a monthly goma memorial service is held from noon on the 21st of every month.

    Official website ↗
  • Zushi Daishi Enmeiji TempleZushi City, Kanagawa Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Daishi-sama goma prayer service

    On the 21st of every month, from 1:30 p.m., the temple holds a goma prayer service as an observance for Kobo Daishi, praying for protection from misfortune and safety for worshipers’ families. Reception is open until 1:15 p.m.

    Official website ↗

22nd

The 22nd is assigned to Cintamanicakra Kannon in one tradition and is also observed as Taishiki, the monthly memorial day of Prince Shotoku. Some shrines hold their monthly rites on the 22nd.

Temples: Grand Prince's death ceremony and soul gathering

  • Shitennoji TempleTennoji Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture・Japanese sect

    death of the prince

    The 22nd of each month, the monthly anniversary of Prince Shotoku's death, is observed as Taishi-ki. The Taishi Koshiki and a memorial service for the Six Kannon are held in Taishiden Hall, and admission to the temple complex is free.

    Official website ↗
  • Shiofune Kannonji TempleOme City, Tokyo・Shingon sect Daigo school

    Sonreikai

    At 10:00 a.m. on the 22nd of each month, the temple holds the Sonryoe service in Amida Hall, an Important Cultural Property, and conducts perpetual memorial rites for spirit tablets.

    Official website ↗
  • Toyokawa Inari (Myogenji Temple)Toyokawa City, Aichi Prefecture・Soto sect

    Monthly festival (fair day)

    Because Toyokawa Inari was founded on the 22nd day of the eleventh month in the lunar calendar, a monthly rite is held on the 22nd of each month. Open-air and antique markets fill the grounds. The principal image is Toyokawa Dakini Shinten.

    Official website ↗
  • Toyokawa Inari Tokyo AnnexMinato Ward, Tokyo・Soto sect

    Festival day

    The 1st and 22nd of each month are observed as ennichi dates. Grand festivals are held at New Year and on May 22 and September 22. The September observance is the Ooka Festival, commemorating Ooka Echizen-no-kami.

    Official website ↗
  • Mogami Inariyama Myokyoji TempleKita Ward, Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture・Nichiren sect

    Inari Daimyojin special prayer

    At 11:00 a.m. on the 22nd of each month, the appointed day of Inari Daimyojin, the temple conducts the Oku Hikaji Kito prayer in the Okunoin.

    Official website ↗
  • Nose MyokenyamaNose Town, Osaka Prefecture・Nichiren sect

    Kamo Inari Daimyojin Monthly Festival

    On the 22nd of each month, a monthly rite for Kamome Inari Daimyojin is held in Kaiunden Hall. Revered as a guardian against fire, the deity grants a black fire-protection talisman to those who receive prayers that day.

    Official website ↗

Shrines – monthly festivals

  • Yuki ShrineSakyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    Monthly rites are held on the 1st and 22nd of each month.

    Official website ↗
  • Chiyoho Inari ShrineKaizu City, Gifu Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    Monthly rites are held on the 1st, 15th, and 22nd of each month. On these three days, the lattice doors at the front of the worship hall are opened.

    Official website ↗

23rd

The 23rd is the ennichi of Seishi Bodhisattva, the principal deity of the twenty-third-night moon-waiting observance. Groups and stone monuments dedicated to this observance remain throughout Japan.

Temples: 23rd night, Seishi festival

  • Myohoji TempleSuginami Ward, Tokyo・Nichiren sect

    Nijusanyado opening ceremony

    Nijusanya Hall opens only on the 23rd of each month. Monks chant sutras and accept prayer requests at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Keiganji Temple (Twenty-three nights)Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Pinko Jizo Festival

    The principal image is Seishi Bodhisattva. The Pinkoro Jizoson ennichi is held on the 23rd of each month.

    Official website ↗
  • Zenkoji DaihonganNagano City, Nagano Prefecture・Jodo sect

    Mizuko Jizo memorial service

    At 1:00 p.m. on the 23rd of each month, a grand memorial service is held before Mizuko Jizo to console the spirits of children lost through miscarriage or stillbirth.

    Official website ↗
  • Kenshoin 23 Night HallAoba Ward, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture・Tendai sect

    23rd night festival

    This hall enshrines Tokudaiseishi Bodhisattva as its principal image, and its ennichi falls on the 23rd of each month. It is called Nijusanya Hall because people once gathered on the twenty-third night to await the moonrise and pray to Seishi Bodhisattva. The hall is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and anyone may visit.

    Official website ↗

Shrines – monthly festivals

  • Imizu ShrineTakaoka City, Toyama Prefecture・shrine

    Monthly festival (fair day)

    The 23rd of each month is observed as an ennichi, when the customary monthly rite is held.

    Official website ↗

24th

The 24th is the ennichi of Jizo Bodhisattva, with the first observance of the year known as Hatsu-Jizo. The date has been established since the Heian period. Jizo images, halls, and temples throughout Japan hold ennichi observances and pujas on the 24th. Some Atago shrines dedicated to protection from fire also observe this date.

Temples: Jizo Festival

  • Koganji Temple (Togenuki Jizo)Toshima Ward, Tokyo・Soto sect

    Jizo Festival

    The ennichi is observed on the 4th, 14th, and 24th of every month, and on the 24th, the street leading to the shrine, Jizo-dori Street, is crowded with stalls.

    Official website ↗
  • Sensoji Temple JingodoTaito Ward, Tokyo・St. Kannon sect

    Mizuko adoption memorial service

    A memorial service for Mizuko is held in front of Mizuko Jizo statue at 10:00 on the 24th of every month.

    Official website ↗
  • Higiri Jizoson Kannon-in TempleKiryu City, Gunma Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Jizo Festival

    On the 24th of every month, the ennichi of Jizo, the approach to the temple is crowded with stalls.

    Official website ↗
  • Adashino Nenbutsuji TempleUkyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Jodo sect

    Mizuko Jizo memorial service

    A memorial service for Mizuko Jizo is held in the main hall from 2:00 pm on the 24th of every month, which is the ennichi of Jizo Bodhisattva (a thousand lantern memorial service is held in August).

    Official website ↗
  • Shitennoji TempleTennoji Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture・Japanese sect

    Jizo Festival

    The 24th of every month is Jizo's festival, and the main image of Jizo-do, Tatsue Jizo, is celebrated.

    Official website ↗
  • Kannonji TempleKokubunji City, Tokyo・Shingon sect Toyoyama school

    Jizo Bosatsu Festival

    The festival of Jizo Bosatsu is set on the 24th of every month as an ennichi of Tozan.

    Official website ↗
  • JizoinKurayoshi City, Tottori Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Jizo Ennichi Pilgrimage

    The 24th of every month is the ennichi, and a memorial service is held at the main hall from 10:00 a.m..

    Official website ↗
  • Zenkoji DaikanjinNagano City, Nagano Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Jizo Festival

    At Daikanjin, the main temple of Zenko-ji Temple, a memorial service for the Jizo statue is held on the 24th of every month from 1:00 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Shoshayama Engyoji TempleHimeji City, Hyogo Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Jizo Festival (Jizo Ko)

    A Jizo memorial service is held on the morning of the 24th of every month, which is the ennichi of Jizo Bosatsu. The night of service, which was originally held on the evening of the 23rd, was changed from April 2019 to the morning of the 24th.

    Official website ↗
  • Nanaki JizosonKurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture・Jizo statue

    Jizo's Day of Honor

    Known as the Jizo-son whose wishes come true, the 4th, 14th, and 24th of each month are designated as Onbi days. The 24th is the ennichi of Jizo Bodhisattva, and it is crowded with worshipers.

    Official website ↗
  • Yagiyama Fukutokuin (Higiri Jizoson)Konan Ward, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Higiri Jizo Ennichi

    A Jizo-do hall that enshrines the Higiri Jizo statue. The ennichi is observed on the fourth day of each month (4th, 14th, and 24th), and worshipers come on the 24th as well.

    Official website ↗
  • Yaba Jizo Seijoji TempleNaka Ward, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture・Jodo sect

    Jizo Bosatsu Festival

    The principal image is Enmeijizo Daibosatsu, which is affectionately known as Yaba Jizo. The 24th of every month is the festival of Jizo Bosatsu, and worshipers come here. An ennichi observance is held on August 24th as the Yaba Jizo ennichi.

    Official website ↗

Shrines: Monthly Festival of Atago

  • Atago ShrineSendai City, Miyagi Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite is held on the 24th of every month before the deity revered for protection from fire.

    Official website ↗
  • Washio Atago ShrineFukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture・shrine

    Monthly festival of gratitude to God

    A monthly rite of gratitude to the kami is held on the 1st, 15th, 23rd, and 24th of every month.

    Official website ↗
  • Furumachi Atago ShrineNiigata City, Niigata Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    As the ``Atago-sama'' of Hibuse, a monthly rite is held on the 24th of every month.

    Official website ↗
  • Sendai Atago ShrineTaihaku Ward, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    The shrine venerates a deity of protection from fire. A monthly rite is held on the 24th of every month. In the old days, the festival was held on June 24th according to the lunar calendar, but it was later changed to July 24th according to the new calendar.

    Official website ↗

25th

The 25th is the ennichi of Tenjin, Sugawara no Michizane, with the first observance of the year known as Hatsu-Tenjin. The date recalls both his death on February 25 and his birth on June 25. Tenmangu shrines throughout Japan hold ennichi observances and monthly rites, while Buddhist tradition assigns the 25th to Manjushri Bodhisattva.

Temples - Manjushri festival

  • Manjushri Senji TempleKunisaki City, Oita Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Manjushri Bodhisattva Ennichi Observance goma

    On the 25th of every month, which is the ennichi of Manjushri Bodhisattva, the temple perform an ennichi goma rite ceremony.

    Official website ↗
  • Zaikaji TempleToyokawa City, Aichi Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Monjusri monthly festival

    Goma prayers are held as a monthly rite on the 25th of every month, which is the ennichi of Monju Bosatsu, which is enshrined in Manju-do Hall, and a Monju-sama festival is also held.

    Official website ↗

Shrines - Tenjin fairs and monthly festivals

  • Kitano Tenmangu ShrineKamigyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・shrine

    Tenjin City (fair)

    The 25th of every month is Tenjin-san's Day, a festival where stalls are lined up all day long on the approach to the shrine, and the precincts are lit up from sunset.

    Official website ↗
  • Dazaifu Tenmangu ShrineDazaifu City, Fukuoka Prefecture・shrine

    25th festival

    A monthly rite is held on the 25th, which has a strong connection with Tenjin, to give thanks for the divine virtues and pray for the prosperity of the nation and the peace of the people.

    Official website ↗
  • Osaka Tenmangu ShrineKita Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture・shrine

    Hot spring ritual/monthly festival

    On the 25th of every month, a hot spring ritual and a monthly rite are held.

    Official website ↗
  • Sugawarain Tenmangu ShrineKamigyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・shrine

    Monthly Rite

    The monthly rite is held on the 1st of every month and the monthly rite on the 25th.

    Official website ↗
  • Kameido Tenjin ShrineKoto Ward, Tokyo・shrine

    Tenjin festival

    The 25th of every month is Tenjin's Day, and various Shinto rituals and festivals such as Kagura are held.

    Official website ↗
  • Domyoji Tenmangu ShrineFujiidera City, Osaka Prefecture・shrine

    Antique market (fair)

    An antique market is held on the 25th of every month, which is Tenjin Day.

    Official website ↗
  • Nagaoka Tenmangu ShrineNagaokakyo City, Kyoto Prefecture・shrine

    Monthly Festival (Ennichi Pilgrimage)

    A monthly rite (ennichi mairi) is held at 9 o'clock on the 25th of every month, and after the festival, people enjoy tea with the chief priest.

    Official website ↗
  • Oishigo Tenmangu ShrineJoso City, Ibaraki Prefecture・shrine

    Monthly festival (monthly festival)

    A monthly fair is held on the 25th of every month as Tsukinamisai.

    Official website ↗
  • Iwatsu Tenmangu ShrineOkazaki City, Aichi Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    A monthly rite is held on the 25th of every month, which is Tenjin Day, and a special prayer for success is also held.

    Official website ↗
  • Katsuoka Tenmangu ShrineSendai City, Miyagi Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    Monthly rites are held on the 1st and 25th of every month.

    Official website ↗
  • Morioka Tenmangu ShrineMorioka City, Iwate Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    Tenjin-sama in Tohoku is dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane. A monthly rite is held on the 25th of every month. January 25th is the first Tenjin festival, and December 25th is the final Tenjin festival.

    Official website ↗
  • Shizuoka Tenmangu ShrineShizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    Tenmangu Shrine is dedicated to the god of learning. A monthly rite is held on the 25th of every month, and anyone can attend.

    Official website ↗
  • Fumiko Tenmangu ShrineShimogyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    It is said to be the predecessor of Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, as it is connected to the shrine where the Tenjin faith originated. Monthly rites are held on the 16th and 25th of every month.

    Official website ↗
  • Hofu Tenmangu ShrineHofu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    Tradition identifies this as Japan's earliest Tenjin shrine. A monthly rite is held in the main sanctuary at 9:00 a.m. on the 25th, while the Tenjin Market is held along the main approach.

    Official website ↗
  • Hatsukaichi Tenmangu ShrineHatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture・shrine

    Tenjin Kosha Festival

    A shrine that enshrines Michizane Sugawara and prays for passing the exam. Tenjin Kosha Festival is held on the 25th of every month. In January, May, and September 25th from 1:30 p.m., the ennichi is observed even larger as the Tenjin Kodai Festival.

    Official website ↗
  • Sugawara Shrine (Arahira Tenjin)Kanoya City, Kagoshima Prefecture・shrine

    fair

    Tenjin-sama is enshrined on a rocky mountain that juts out to the sea. It is also called Arahira Tenjin. Many worshipers visit the shrine on the 25th of every month, which is the anniversary of Michizane Sugawara's death.

    Official website ↗
  • Ikimi Tenmangu ShrineNantan City, Kyoto Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    Ikimitenmangu Shrine is connected to Japan's oldest Tenmangu Shrine. A monthly rite is held from 8 a.m. on the 25th of every month to pray for the safety of one's family and the fulfillment of one's wishes. Attendance is free, and worshipers receive a goshuin stamp and souvenirs from the monthly rite.

    Official website ↗
  • Umenoin Tenmangu ShrineNishi Ward, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture・shrine

    monthly festival

    The shrine enshrines Sugawara no Michizane. A monthly rite is held on the 25th of every month. It is listed as a monthly rite on the 25th of each month in the information provided by the Kanagawa Prefecture Shrine Office.

    Official website ↗

26th

The 26th is the ennichi of Aizen Myoo. A separate tradition of waiting for the twenty-sixth-night moon also survives. Few observances are unique to the date, but some temples unveil images of Aizen or perform goma rites.

Temples: Aizen Ennichi Observance/Goma

  • Myokoji TempleOjiya City, Niigata Prefecture・Soto sect

    Aizen Myoo Monthly Festival

    On the 26th of each month, the temple holds a monthly rite and unveils its principal image, a seated statue of Aizen Myoo.

    Official website ↗
  • Mitsu-dera TempleChuo Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Aizen goma prayer

    On the 26th of each month, the temple performs a goma rite before Aizen Myoo, praying that worshippers may find good relationships.

    Official website ↗

27th

In the Thirty Buddhas of the Month, the 27th is assigned to Rocana Buddha. Few observances are unique to the date, but some temples observe an ennichi of Aizen Myoo or hold a regular monthly puja on the 27th.

Temples: Aizen Fair/Regular Puja

  • Kinpusenji TempleYoshino Town, Nara Prefecture・Kinpusen Shugen Honshu

    Aizen Myoo Fair

    On the 27th of each month, Aizen Myoo's ennichi, the temple holds a prayer service in Aizendo Hall.

    Official website ↗
  • Chinkokuji TempleMunakata City, Fukuoka Prefecture・Shingon sect Omuro school

    Monthly festival Fudo goma offering rite

    At 2:00 p.m. on the 27th of each month, the temple performs a goma rite in the Okunoin Fudo Hall.

    Official website ↗
  • Shinshu Honbyo (Higashi Honganji Temple)Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Shinshu Otani school

    Shinran Exchange Center regular sermons

    Regular Dharma talks are held at the Shinran Exchange Center at 10:00 a.m. on the 12th and 27th of each month.

    Official website ↗
  • Kiyokojin Seishoji TempleTakarazuka City, Hyogo Prefecture・Shingon Sanpo sect

    Tsukinami Sanpo Festival

    The temple enshrines Sanbo Kojin, deity of fire and the hearth. The 27th and 28th of each month are observed as the monthly Sanbo festival and Kojin-san's ennichi. Stalls line the approach, and a service featuring a revolving recitation of the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra begins at 10:00 a.m. on the 28th.

    Official website ↗

28th

The 28th is the ennichi of Fudo Myoo, with the final observance of the year known as Osame-Fudo. Dainichi Nyorai is also assigned to the 28th. Fudo temples throughout Japan hold great goma rites and ennichi observances each month, making this one of the principal dates for goma practice.

Temples: Fudo Ennichi Observance/Goma

  • Takahata Fudoson Kongoji TempleHino City, Tokyo・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Fudo Fair/Gozare Market

    The 28th of each month is Fudo's ennichi. From 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., the approach becomes a pedestrian zone for the Gozare Market and a goma rite.

    Official website ↗
  • Toyonaka Fudoson (Toyonaka Fudoji Temple)Toyonaka City, Osaka Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Fudo Ennichi great goma offering rite

    At 10:00 a.m. on the 28th of each month, Fudo Myoo's ennichi, the temple solemnly performs a grand goma rite, during which a priest gives blessings with a shakujo staff.

    Official website ↗
  • Banshoji TempleNaka Ward, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture・Stand-alone

    Festival goma

    At 3:00 p.m. on the 28th of each month, the temple performs an ennichi goma rite for Migawari Fudo Myoo. Anyone may attend.

    Official website ↗
  • Naritasan Kawagoe Betsuin HongyoinKawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Fudoson Festival/Flea Market

    On the 28th of each month, Fudo's ennichi, the temple solemnly performs a goma rite and about 100 flea-market stalls open.

    Official website ↗
  • Hojuji TempleHigashiyama Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Fudo Myoo Festival goma

    On the 28th of each month, Fudo's ennichi, the temple solemnly performs goma rites at 7:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., and 2:00 p.m. A Dharma talk follows each rite.

    Official website ↗
  • Fudoin FudokakuGifu City, Gifu Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Fudo Myoo Festival goma Prayer Memorial

    At 11:00 a.m. on the 28th of each month, the temple holds an ennichi goma prayer service for Namikiri Fudo Myoo.

    Official website ↗
  • Naritasan Yokohama Annex (Nogeyama Fudoson)Nishi Ward, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Festival goma

    On the ennichi dates of the 1st, 15th, and 28th of each month, the temple solemnly performs Fudo Myoo goma rites and accepts prayer requests from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Senzoji TempleTaito Ward, Tokyo・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Fudo goma

    At 11:00 a.m. on the 28th of each month, the temple performs a roughly 40-minute Fudo Myoo goma rite accompanied by drums. Admission is free.

    Official website ↗
  • Ninnaji TempleUkyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture・Shingon sect Omuro school

    Fudo goma offering rite

    On the 28th of each month, the temple performs a Fudo goma rite in Daikokudo Hall, praying for the wishes written on goma sticks.

    Official website ↗
  • Bodaisan Shoryakuji TempleNara City, Nara Prefecture・Bodaiyama Shingon Sect

    great goma Association

    On the 28th of each month, Fudo Myoo's ennichi, the temple's monks gather for the Goma-no-kai. It is not held in November.

    Official website ↗
  • Miyajima Misen DaishoinHatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture・Shingon sect Omuro school

    Misen Fudokai

    On the 28th of each month, Fudo Myoo's day of merit, the Misen Fudoe service is held on Mount Misen from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Naritasan Kurume Branch Myoji TempleKurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Festival day great goma

    At 11:00 a.m. on the ennichi dates of the 1st, 15th, and 28th of each month, the temple solemnly performs a grand Fudo Myoo goma rite lasting about 50 minutes.

    Official website ↗
  • Naritasan Makyuji TempleAsahikawa City, Hokkaido・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Fudo Myoo goma Ku memorial service

    At 1:00 p.m. on the 28th of each month, the ennichi of its principal image Fudo Myoo, the temple solemnly performs a goma service. It is the first temple of the Hokkaido Thirty-Six Fudoson Sacred Sites and is known as Asahikawa Fudoson.

    Official website ↗
  • Kamidera Fudoson Shokeiin TempleMisato Town, Miyagi Prefecture・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Fudoson Ennichi Grand goma Prayer

    From 11:00 a.m. to noon on the 28th of each month, the temple solemnly performs the Fudoson Ennichi Grand Goma Prayer Rite. It is the 27th temple of the Tohoku Thirty-Six Fudoson Sacred Sites.

    Official website ↗
  • Akibayama Daihoin TempleIshinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Fudo Myoo Fair goma Prayer

    At 10:00 a.m. on the 28th of each month, the ennichi of its principal image Fudo Myoo, the temple solemnly performs a goma prayer rite. This observance has continued since the earthquake.

    Official website ↗
  • JikoinAoba Ward, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Fudo goma

    The 28th of each month is Fudo Myoo's ennichi. During the Fudo goma rite, worshippers offer goma sticks into the sacred fire of wisdom and pray for their wishes to be fulfilled.

    Official website ↗
  • Mitaki Fudoson Kinzoji TempleFunabashi City, Chiba Prefecture・Shingon sect Toyoyama school

    Fudo goma prayer

    The temple is affectionately known as Otaki Fudoson. It solemnly performs a goma prayer rite at 11:00 a.m. on the 28th of each month.

    Official website ↗
  • Myoo-in TempleKamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture・Shingon sect Omuro school

    Fudo goma memorial service

    Located in Junisho, Kamakura, the temple holds a goma service at 1:00 p.m. on the 28th of each month. Anyone may attend.

    Official website ↗
  • Mt. Sunao Hashiba-dera Temple Fudo-in TempleTaito Ward, Tokyo・Tendai sect

    Fudo Myoo Fair goma

    The temple is known as Hashiba Fudoson. It observes an ennichi on the 28th of each month and performs a goma rite at 2:00 p.m. in January, May, and September, and at 10:00 a.m. in all other months.

    Official website ↗
  • Takinotani Eihoji TempleKikugawa City, Shizuoka Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Fudo Myoo Festival goma

    From 11:00 a.m. to noon on the 28th of each month, the temple performs an ennichi goma rite for Fudo Myoo. Visitors may enter the main hall freely.

    Official website ↗
  • Mt. Hikariwa Chorakuji TempleHamana Ward, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Fudo goma

    Located in Kiga, Hosoe, the temple observes the 28th of each month as an ennichi associated with Fudo Myoo and performs a Fudo goma rite for worshippers' prayers.

    Official website ↗
  • Mt. Oshukusa Dainichi-in Temple Toen-ji TempleOshino Village, Yamanashi Prefecture・Tendai sect

    Fudo Myoo Fair goma

    The 28th of each month is observed as Fudo Myoo's ennichi, when the temple performs a goma rite and offers prayers.

    Official website ↗
  • Kurikara Fudoji TempleTsubata Town, Ishikawa Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Fudo Ennichi goma/sermon

    This special head temple stands at Kurikara Pass. The 1st, first Sunday, and 28th of each month are ennichi dates, when the doors before the principal image, Fudo Myoo, are opened. A Dharma talk is held in the mountaintop main hall at 11:00 a.m. on the 28th.

    Official website ↗
  • Yukayama Rendaiji TempleKurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Fudo Myoo goma memorial service

    The 28th of each month is observed as Fudo Myoo's ennichi, with a goma service beginning at 11:00 a.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Kamikoyama Ichinomiya TempleTakamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture・Shingon sect Omuro school

    Fudo Myoo Festival goma offering rite

    This is temple 83 of the Shikoku Eighty-Eight Temple Pilgrimage. At 10:00 a.m. on the 28th of each month, Fudo's ennichi, the temple performs a goma rite. A Dharma talk and settai hospitality follow the service.

    Official website ↗
  • Naritasan Fudoji TempleOkagaki Town, Fukuoka Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Fudo Myoo Fair goma bound

    The first and third Sundays and the 28th of each month are observed as ennichi dates. Goma rites begin at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Tanso Fudoson Myoji TempleHita City, Oita Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Fudo Myoo goma prayer

    The 28th of each month is Fudo Myoo's ennichi, when the temple holds a goma prayer rite at 10:00 a.m. Anyone may attend.

    Official website ↗
  • Naritasan Sapporo Betsuin Shineiji TempleChuo Ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Fudo Myoo Festival goma

    This is the Sapporo branch temple of Daihonzan Naritasan Shinshoji. On the 28th of each month, Fudo Myoo's ennichi, the temple performs its regular goma rites in the morning and afternoon. On this day, worshippers may approach the goma altar to pay their respects.

    Official website ↗
  • Naritasan Hakodate Annex Hakodateji TempleHakodate City, Hokkaido・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Fudo Fair goma

    This is the 28th temple of the Hokkaido Thirty-Six Fudoson Sacred Sites. The 1st, 15th, and 28th of each month are ennichi dates. On the 28th, the temple performs a morning goma rite at 7:00 a.m. and an evening goma rite at 2:00 p.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Mitakiyama Fudoin TempleAoba Ward, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Fudoson Fair goma

    Located in Sendai's central shopping district, this temple is known for blessing prayers and for enshrining Sendai Shiro, a deity of good fortune. On the 28th of each month, Fudoson's ennichi, the temple solemnly performs a goma rite before the principal image.

    Official website ↗
  • Kiganji Temple Mikamo FudosonTochigi City, Tochigi Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Fudo Fair goma

    This Fudoson is known for goma rites praying for prosperity in business, protection from misfortune, and good fortune. On the 28th of each month, Fudo Myoo's ennichi, religious practice begins at 10:00 a.m. and the goma rite at 11:00 a.m.

    Official website ↗
  • Yamakawa Fudoson Daieiji TempleYuki City, Ibaraki Prefecture・Shingon sect Toyoyama school

    Fudo Myoo Fair goma

    The temple is called Myozan Fudoin Daieiji, and its principal image, a seated Fudo Myoo, is traditionally attributed to Kobo Daishi. The 28th of each month is its ennichi, when a goma puja is held and stalls line the street before the gate.

    Official website ↗
  • Ugyutamayama Kannonji TempleTsushima City, Aichi Prefecture・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Cut off Fudoson goma prayer

    The temple has long been preserved as the jinguji temple of Tsushima Shrine. Its principal image is Tachikiri Fudoson, revered for severing harmful ties. A goma prayer rite is held at 10:00 a.m. on the 28th of each month.

    Official website ↗
  • Fumonji TempleToyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Fudo Myoo Fair goma

    A famous spot for autumn leaves that enshrines Fudo Myoo and Kannon, which protects against evil spirits. On the 28th of every month, the ennichi of Fudo Myoo, the temple perform goma prayers from 10:00 am to 11:00 am.

    Official website ↗
  • Koyasan Jimyoin TempleTakano Town, Wakayama Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Fudo goma offering rite

    This temple is a special temple on Mt. Koya, and its principal image is Kajitori Fudoson. goma offering rite is practiced on the 13th and 28th of every month.

    Official website ↗
  • Zennozan Fudoson Hakuryuji TempleAkaiwa City, Okayama Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Fudo goma

    The main image is Fudo Myoo. Fudo goma is performed at 11 a.m. on the 28th of every month, and anyone is welcome to visit.

    Official website ↗
  • Head temple Zentsuji GomadoZentsuji City, Kagawa Prefecture・Shingon sect Zentsuji school

    Fudo Myoo Fair goma

    The goma-do hall in the precincts has Fudo Myoo as its principal image and is a registered cultural property of the country. goma prayers are held at the Goma Hall on the 28th of every month, the ennichi of Fudo-sama.

    Official website ↗
  • New Naritasan Kakushoji TempleSaga City, Saga Prefecture・Shingon sect Toyoyama school

    Fudo Fair goma

    The principal image is Fudo Myoo. On the 28th of every month, on Fudo’s ennichi, the temple holds an ennichi goma rite from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm.

    Official website ↗
  • Daishozan Fudoji TempleToyonaka City, Osaka Prefecture・Shingon sect Daigo school

    Fudo Myoo Fair goma Prayer

    The principal image is Fudo Myoo. On the 8th and 28th of every month from 2:00 p.m., the temple perform Ennichi observance goma at Goma Hall, and on the 28th, the temple also award special goshuin stamps.

  • Naritasan Manpuku-in TempleNaka Ward, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Fudo Myo-o Fair great goma offering rite

    Joroku's seated statue of Fudo Myoo is enshrined at Mt. Narita in Sakae, Nagoya. The ennichi is observed on the 1st and 28th of every month, and on the 28th, the great goma offering rite is held from 7:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

  • Seisosan Shoyuji TempleNose Town, Osaka Prefecture・Shingon sect

    Fudo Myoo goma Prayer Meeting

    On the 28th of every month, the temple holds a goma prayer service in front of the Kurofudo Myoo Hall in Goma Hall.

  • Arafunefudo (Enmanji Temple)Saku City, Nagano Prefecture・Shingon sect Chizan school

    Fudo Myoo Festival goma offering rite

    Arafunefudo is worshiped at an ancient temple known as a famous spot for wisteria. The 28th of every month is celebrated as the ennichi of Fudo Myo-o, where people pray for the fulfillment of their wishes.

  • Mt. Jizo Kongoji TempleTakasago City, Hyogo Prefecture・Koyasan Shingon Buddhism

    Fudo Myoo's Fair

    Fudo Myo-o is enshrined at the 79th temple in Harima-Shikoku. The 28th of every month is designated as the ennichi of Fudo Myoo.

29th

In the Thirty Buddhas of the Month, the 29th is assigned to Yakuo Bodhisattva. This deity did not become the focus of widespread devotion, and temples or shrines holding a regular monthly observance on this day are rare.

30th

The 30th is the ennichi of Shakyamuni Buddha and concludes the cycle of the Thirty Buddhas of the Month. As misoka, the final day of the month, it is observed at some temples with memorial services in ossuaries and related rites for the deceased.

Temple – Eve’s Eko

  • Daihonzan Hasedera TempleSakurai City, Nara Prefecture・Shingon sect Toyoyama school

    Ossuary Eko

    On the 30th of each month, or the 28th in February, the temple holds a memorial service in the ossuary where divided ashes and memorial tablets are interred.

    Official website ↗

Further Reading

Reading to come to know more deeply the faith of Byodoji and the buddhas behind it.

  • The Principal Image, Yakushi Tathāgata

    Trace Yakushi (Bhaiṣajyaguru), at the center of Byodoji's faith, through its origins and the twelve great vows.

    Read→

  • The History of Byodoji

    Trace how devotion to Yakushi Tathāgata has been handed down at Byodoji.

    Read→

Byodoji Online

A place to pray and learn

Visit, request prayers, or explore Buddhism. Choose where you’d like to begin.

Live StreamingApplication for PrayerTemple Guide
Worship & Live Streams

Worship & Live Streams

Live StreamingZUIKIPractice SutrasShakyo OfferingEma Offering
Prayers & Memorials

Prayers & Memorials

Ritual CalendarApply for a Goma PrayerSacred ItemsApplication for PrayerAñjali - Pray Here and NowDāna
Learn & Read

Learn & Read

Learn About ByodojiArticlesTemple GuideVarious ordersSpecial Ritual
Byodoji & Visiting

Byodoji & Visiting

About ByodojiAccessVisiting GuideLive Streaming
Questions & Contact

Questions & Contact

Ask the Head PriestAnswers to questions we have receivedContact UsPersonal MeetingOtayori
View all pages

Learn About Byodoji

History of Byodoji TempleByodoji Temple Origin RecordPrincipal Yakushi NyoraiThe Eleven-Faced Kannon of the JibutsudoVaiśravaṇa at ByodojiKṣitigarbha at ByodojiAcala at ByodojiThe Box-Cart Miracle

Articles

Byodoji AlmanacThe Complete EnnichiGanfuji: a Japanese prayer concerning cancerWhat Is "One Buddha, One Land"? Why Two Buddhas Never Arise in One World, Traced from the Sources21-Day Gyakushu OfferingWhat Is the Kaikyoge? The Sutra-Opening Verse, Its Meaning and OriginsWhat Is Shugen? Tracing the "Gen" of Shugendō to Its SourcesWhat Is Nyubutsu Samaya? Entering the Buddha's Vow in Shingon BuddhismWhat Is Transgressing the Samaya? Breaking the Vow With the BuddhaWhat Is Kyuri KajiKyuri Kaji Temples Across JapanWhat Is the Eleven-Faced KannonWhat Is VaiśravaṇaWhat Is KṣitigarbhaWhat Is AcalaWhat Is Bhaisajyaguru (Yakushi Nyorai)What Is the RishukyoWhat Is the Roji-no-ge (Verse on Striking the Gaṇḍī)? What the Bell TellsFocusing on People and Prayer — Eight Years of Cashless Offerings at ByodojiIn preparationThe Complete Guide to the Shikoku Pilgrimage (Ohenro)Shikoku 88 Temple Directory

Temple Guide

About ByodojiAccessVisiting Guide

Various orders

morning and evening service booksPraise for the Vajradhātu MaṇḍalaPraise for the Garbhakoṣadhātu MaṇḍalaShingon service bookSaikoku 33 pilgrimages service bookMeal service book

Special Ritual

New Year special Goma prayer8K HomaOhigan Memorial ServiceObon Memorial ServiceCucumber BlessingEnnichi Yakushi HomaSunday Homa

Events

top pageTokai lectureKoyasan 2023Saikoku Kannon Pilgrimage 2024 #1Western Pilgrimage 2024 #2Western Pilgrimage 2025: A Journey of the WishShikoku Pilgrimage Tour 2026Shikoku Pilgrimage Tour 2026 #2

Community

Temple Visit GuidelinesPhoto & Social Media Posting GuidelinesCommunity GuidelinesContent Distribution Guidelines for VisitorsDiscord Byodoji ServerByodoji Notion

Other pages

Live StreamingRitual CalendarApply for a Goma PrayerSacred ItemsZUIKIPractice SutrasShakyo OfferingEma OfferingOnline Shikoku PilgrimageAsk the Head PriestAnswers to questions we have receivedContact UsPersonal MeetingOtayoriUpahāra: Sending an OfferingApplication for PrayerAñjali - Pray Here and NowSoten MagazineDānaHukTokHandmade, Prayer-Blessed Shimenawa from a TempleBamboo MandalaByodokoRanking of Zuiki points and Mantra points