Heisenji Hakusan Shrine

The temple was established as a base for worship by the Buddhist priest Taicho in 717 on the Echizen side of the sacred mountain Hakusan, an ancient object of worship. In the latter half of the Heian period, it became a branch temple of the Hieizan Enryakuji Temple of the Tendai sect of Buddhism, and although it became the largest religious city in Japan at the height of the Warring States period, the temple was burned to the ground during the uprising of followers of the Osaka Honganji sect of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in 1574. With the Meiji program of separation of Shinto and Buddhism, the temple name of Heisenji was abolished and became Hakusan Jinja (shrine), and is now know as the "moss temple" for its beautiful moss carpet covering the grounds. In addition, Mitarashinoike Pond, where a goddess appeared to lead Taicho to Hakusan, and the giant cedars of Wakamiya Hachimangu that survived the burning of the temple, tell the tale of the bygone days of Hakusan Heisenji Temple.