Daisenji Temple

Founded in 718 at the base of Mount Daisen, Daisenji was once a major religious complex with over a hundred sub-temples and thousands of warrior monks. Today, a moss-covered stone path lined with ancient cedar trees leads through what remains, arriving at the Amida-do main hall from the Muromachi period, an Important Cultural Property. Continue up the same path and you reach Ogamiyama Shrine, one of Japan's finest examples of gongen-style architecture with painted interiors. The temple marks the start of the Natsuyama hiking trail up Daisen, and the surrounding beech forest turns deep red and gold in autumn.