Konpirasha Enseiji Temple

Originally founded in 1254 in Yamaguchi as the main temple of the Ouchi warlords, Enseiji was moved to its current location near Hagi Castle in 1604 when the Mori clan shifted their capital. Though a Shingon Buddhist temple, it also enshrines the Shinto sea deity Konpira, a pairing common before the Meiji reforms separated Buddhist and Shinto practice. The shrine eaves are carved with the 12 zodiac animals, and the massive tengu mask above the entrance, made in 1838, is said to have frightened the young Choshu samurai Takasugi Shinsaku as a child. A wooden divine horse from 1820 stands beside the shrine hall.