Joruriji Temple

Joruriji Temple in Kizugawa is the last surviving example of a Pure Land garden temple housing nine Amida Nyorai statues, once common across Japan but now unique. The design sets a three-storied pagoda in the east and the main hall in the west, facing each other across a central pond that represents the passage between this world and Amida's paradise. Both structures are National Treasures. The nine wooden Amida statues in a horizontal row inside the main hall date to 1107. A hidden statue of Kichijotennyo, the goddess of fortune, is viewable only on specific dates: January 1 through 15, late March through May, and October through November.