Amidado Temple

This small temple along a Nagano mountain path holds more than it first appears. Each stone in the area tells a different story: a koshin cult stone splashed with yellow dye, three pillars inscribed with the chant Namu Amida Butsu (the oldest dating to 1692), and two Bato Kannon images placed by travelers whose horses died on the road. Inside, the enshrined images of Amida, Yakushi, and Kobo Daishi remain hidden inside a miniature shrine. A single pointed stone at the back marks the completion of a pilgrimage, placed there by someone who walked the whole route.