A Tendai sect temple with a view of Mt. Nunobiki in front. The name of the mountain is Asoka Ozan, and it is said that Prince Shotoku founded the mountain. You can see beautiful and precious stone pagodas that are unique in Japan.

The temple gate with the plaque of "Ashoka Ozan". As with the nearby Tendai sect temples, Ishito-ji Temple lost its buildings and documents to Oda Nobunaga's War, and the whole mountain was once devastated.

When you pass through the temple gate, you will see the main hall. In the early Edo period, the current portion of the temple estate was restored by Gyoken, a disciple of Tenkai Daisojo, and the dedication has been handed down to modern times.

Climb up the long stone steps surrounded by the red pine forest. The stone pagodas on the side of the stone steps are an impressive sight that differs from other temples and shrines.

At the top of the stone steps is a three-storied stone pagoda with a unique shape. This stone pagoda is said to have been built in the early Nara period, and is the oldest and largest three-storied stone pagoda in Japan, and has been designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. The tower body is vertically elongated, and the roof is loosely swollen.

According to the temple legend, after the death of Shakyamuni, King Ashoka of India built 84,000 pagodas for the prosperity of Buddhism, enshrined the Buddha's ashes, and scattered them all over the world. Two of them reached Japan, one was buried at the bottom of Lake Biwa, and the other was buried in the mountains.

During the Heian period, Jakusho, a monk from Mt. Hiei, went to study in Song. While training at Mt. Seiryo, he heard from a Song monk that the Ashoka Pagoda was buried in Omi, and informed Japan by letter. Three years later, Gikan of Masui-ji Temple in Banshu obtained this letter and presented it to Emperor Ichijo.

A search of this area was carried out by order of the emperor, and a samurai named Mitsumori Noya discovered a mysterious mound on the mountaintop, and when he excavated it together with his imperial messenger Taira no Tsunemasa, discovered a large pagoda in the ground. The emperor was very pleased and built a new Shichido Garan (A large temple with seven halls), and in 1006, the temple name was changed to Ashoka Stone Pagoda Temple.

After that, this area gathered the faith of people from foreign countries, and in order to mourn their own paradise or the bodhi of their ancestors, the five-ring pagoda and stone Buddhas were dedicated in the sacred area around the Ashoka Pagoda, which is a Buddhist stupa. It became a large number over the years.

The spectacle of tens of thousands of stone pagodas covering the entire square is overwhelming and fantastic. A group of mysterious stone pagodas with a somewhat exotic atmosphere that differs in style from ancient Japanese stone Buddhas. You can feel the high level of skill and aesthetics of the people who came to Koto and had a deep connection with it.