Shikoku Pilgrimage Temple No. 22, Byodoji
You are welcome to pray with your hands joined, even if you do not know the sutras or mantras. No reservation is needed for an ordinary visit.
After praying at the Main Hall and Daishi Hall, you can receive a temple stamp at the Nokyo Office. If the stairs are difficult, you can also pray at the temple gate.
The gate and grounds are open at all times
| Nokyo book | 500 yen |
|---|---|
| Hanging scroll | 700 yen |
| Pilgrim jacket | 300 yen |
| Portrait slips:color | 200 yen |
| Portrait slips:mono | 100 yen |
Nokyo is the receiving of brushed calligraphy and a seal as proof of your visit. The amounts listed are the offerings for receiving it on each item. Nokyo books are also available at the stamp office. If you are coming only to worship, there is nothing you need to purchase.
You do not need to learn strict forms. Worship quietly, with a settled heart.
From the gate to the stamp office, allow about thirty minutes for the full round.
The gate marks the boundary with the everyday world. Bow lightly, settle your mind, and then enter the grounds.
With the ladle, pour water over the left hand, then the right. Take water into your cupped hand to rinse your mouth, and finish by holding the ladle upright so that water runs down the handle.
The temple bell is rung once per person. Wait until the sound of the person before you has faded, then leave about thirty seconds before ringing.
Please bring candles and incense with you. If you do not have incense, free incense sticks are placed on top of the offertory box at the front of the Main Hall. Candles are not provided. After making your offerings, sound the gong (waniguchi) lightly and place your monetary offering. There is no set amount. Press your palms together before the principal image, Yakushi Nyorai, and chant the sutras or the mantra if you can. If you cannot, pressing your palms together is enough.
The Daishi Hall enshrines Kobo Daishi (Kukai), the founder of this temple. On the Shikoku pilgrimage, the basic custom is to pray at both the Main Hall and the Daishi Hall.
Temple stamps (nokyo) and temple items are received at the stamp office. When it is crowded, we ask you to wait in order of reception. Please come with time to spare.
For prayers such as healing from illness or the removal of misfortune and opening of good fortune, there are two ways: attend in person at a goma or a daily service, or apply online in advance.
Prayer requests are accepted both by attending in person and by applying online. Prayer for healing from illness or protection from cancer is not a substitute for medical care. Please pray alongside your treatment, as a prayer that sets the heart in order.
Online prayer offering: ¥500 per prayer
The goma is a Shingon rite of prayer in which goma sticks are cast into the wisdom-fire to deliver wishes to the Buddha. One prayer request means one wish. At the service we read aloud your name and wish and perform the prayer.
We accept prayer requests for healing from illness, protection from cancer, the removal of misfortune and opening of good fortune, sound legs and hips, and more.
If you come to the temple for the Ganfuji prayer at the Yakushi Goma, there is no prayer fee and no reservation is needed. Please come at the date and time of the service.
The Ganfuji prayer and livestreamThe 20:00 night goma takes place after regular visiting hours, and everyone is welcome to attend in person. Online applications and the live stream are also available.
Apply on Byodoji OnlineReading names aloud in prayer is free
The services are the temple's daily practice of sutra chanting. Morning and evening each run about two hours, the longest services among the eighty-eight temples of Shikoku.
The names and wishes of those who have applied are read aloud at the service and delivered to the Buddha. Applications are made online, and there is no need to come to the temple.
Those who live far away can also attend through the 24-hour live stream.
For a Dharma talk, prayer service, goma, or a visit outside regular hours, please consult us in advance using the contact form. Our email address is contactus@byodoji.online.
You can also call for help with using the online application.
Please refrain from loud conversation and from behavior that disturbs services. Inside the halls, please take care not to disturb the chanting and prayer of other worshippers.
Photography in the grounds and the Main Hall is possible within the scope of the guidelines.
The Buddha images may also be photographed. So that it does not disturb other worshippers or become unauthorized streaming, please check the detailed standards in the photo and social media posting guidelines.
Ordinary group visits do not require advance notice, regardless of group size.
For a Dharma talk, prayer service, goma, or a visit outside regular hours, please consult us in advance using the contact form.
We have gathered the questions worth checking before you come.
Regular visiting hours are 06:00-17:00, and the stamp office is open 08:00-17:00. Everyone is welcome to attend the evening service and night goma in person after 17:00.
Both are free. If you are coming simply to worship, there is nothing you need to purchase, such as nokyo or temple items. Please place monetary offerings as you feel moved. The parking area grows crowded on weekends, holidays, and ennichi service days.
From the gate through the Main Hall and Daishi Hall to the stamp office, allow about thirty minutes for the full round. If you plan to attend a service or a goma, please check the service times.
It grows crowded on weekends and holidays and on ennichi and special service days. From 06:00 to around 09:00 in the morning and from 16:00 in the evening, you can worship at a comparatively relaxed pace. The Main Hall is open until 17:00.
Bow at the gate, rinse your hands and mouth at the temizu basin, ring the temple bell, and proceed to the Main Hall. After the Main Hall, press your palms together at the Daishi Hall as well. If you would like a temple stamp, please stop by the stamp office last.
Yes. Even if you cannot chant the sutras or the mantra, pressing your palms together alone is in no way discourteous. If you do not have incense, free incense sticks are placed on top of the offertory box at the front of the Main Hall. Please bring your own candles.
Applications are accepted on Byodoji Online. The reading of prayer requests during the morning and evening services is free. If you apply online for the regular goma, the offering is ¥500 per prayer (one wish). For the prayers you have requested, the head priest reads aloud your name and wish at the service and performs the prayer.
The monthly night goma begins at 20:00, after regular visiting hours, and everyone is welcome to attend in person. Online applications and the live stream are also available.
Ordinary group visits do not require advance notice, regardless of group size. For a Dharma talk, prayer service, goma, or a visit outside regular hours, please consult us in advance using the contact form.
Contact formIn the grounds and the Main Hall, photography is possible within the scope of the guidelines. The Buddha images may also be photographed. Separate standards apply to social media posting and live streaming.
Read the photo and social media posting guidelinesThere are 13 steps before the gate, 5 steps after it, and 53 steps before the Main Hall. If you touch the five-colored rope that runs from the hand of the principal image to the gate and press your palms together, it is the same worship as climbing to the Main Hall. Chairs are also available inside the hall, so please worship within what you can comfortably do.
Yes. In the grounds, please keep your pet on a leash or in a carrier at all times so that it does not disturb other worshippers.
Byodoji's temple lodging has been closed since the COVID-19 period, and there are currently no plans to reopen it.
If you need accommodation, please contact Minshuku Sazanka, just beside the temple, directly: 188-1 Akiyama, Aratano-cho, Anan, Tokushima; phone 0884-36-3701.
0884-36-3701Yes. Please call 0884-36-3522 (stamp office, reception 08:00-17:00). Email is contactus@byodoji.online, and the contact form is also available.
