Myohozan Amida-ji Temple

Amida-ji stands 749 meters up Mt. Myohozan on the Kumano pilgrimage route, founded by Kukai in 815 at a place considered the threshold between this life and the next. A bell called the Hitotsu-gane hangs inside the entrance torii gate; tradition holds every soul rings it once before leaving the mortal plane, and that it sometimes sounds on its own. The main hall receives o-kamiage hair offerings, a Heian-period practice of leaving a lock to secure rebirth in the Pure Land. Today people bring hair or bones of deceased loved ones as well. A grassy clearing marks where the ascetic Osho immolated himself in the tenth century while reciting the Lotus Sutra.