Kannonji Temple

Kannonji Temple sits directly beside Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, and until 1868 the two formed a single combined religious complex. The government's order to separate Buddhism and Shinto that year pulled them apart. The main hall enshrines an eleven-headed Kannon statue said to have been carved by Sugawara no Michizane, the scholar-statesman enshrined at Kitano Tenmangu, and it is displayed only once every 25 years. A small side hall holds a Kannon figure donated by a Chinese monk in 1655, surrounded by dolls left by people praying for fertility. Behind the main hall, a 4.5-meter stone stupa moved from the shrine during the separation still marks a site of historical memorial prayers.