Eisenji Temple

Eisenji is a Soto Zen temple founded in 1596 on a hillside overlooking the old silver-mining town of Omori. It is connected to one of the area's most remembered acts of leadership: in 1732, during a famine that devastated western Japan, magistrate Ido Heizaemon used rice reserves and tax waivers to feed local people without waiting for permission from Edo. A traveling priest introduced him to sweet potatoes at this temple, and Ido had them planted widely, reportedly preventing anyone under his authority from starving. The temple burned in 1800, and its main hall was rebuilt by 1807. The imposing gate added in 1853 survived the collapse of the shogunate and still stands today.