Shiromineji Temple

The 81st temple on the Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage, Shiromineji sits on Mt. Shiramine between Takamatsu and Sakaide. Six of its buildings, dating to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, are dedicated to animals of the Chinese zodiac, and small statues help visitors find the hall corresponding to their birth year. The Tonshoji Hall is architecturally rare: a single worship hall with three shrines connected by corridors, a design found nowhere else in Japan. Emperor Sutoku, exiled to this remote region after losing a power struggle at court, died here and is buried in a simple grave beside the temple.