Site of Renjuji Temple

Renjuji Temple was the religious center of the isolated mountain village of Kazura for nearly 400 years until the village was abandoned in 1967. The site is marked by a stone tablet and a large oak tree estimated to be around 400 years old. The tablet commemorates Kyoshinbo, a Buddhist priest who arrived in 1580 after being driven out of the Kaga domain by Oda Nobunaga's forces along with roughly 1,500 followers. He converted the village's prayer hall into the temple and lived out his years in Kazura. An annual ceremony is still held in front of the stone tablet, a practice that the villagers began in 1916.