Kanimanji Temple

Kanimanji, meaning 'Temple Full of Crabs,' takes its name from a parable in the twelfth-century Konjaku Monogatari collection, where Kannon took the form of a swarm of crabs to protect a devout girl from a snake her father had promised her to. The temple marks this story with a crab emblem throughout the grounds and an annual crab-releasing ceremony on April 18. Excavations beneath the current modest building revealed foundations of a much larger temple over 1,300 years old. The principal object of worship is a gilt bronze Shaka Nyorai statue weighing 2.2 tons and standing 240 centimeters tall, designated a National Treasure of Japan.