Several million visitors come to worship the famous early Buddhist statues. A single pilgrimage to Zenkō-ji is said to ensure their salvation. To do so, one must grope inside a tunnel below the main altar to touch "the keys to paradise". This temple is dedicated to the deities Amida Nyorai (the representation of the deity who comes to fetch men before taking them to the realm of the pure earth after death), Seishi and Kannon, three sacred figures whose gilded bronze statues are said to have been given in the 7th century by the king of Paektche (in Korea) to the Japanese emperor Kimmei (510-571). The temple was built in the 6th century to house the statues. But following a struggle, both political and religious between two rival clans, the statues were thrown into a canal in the Ōsaka River. Zenkō (reading Honda Yoshimitsu in Chinese), after recovering the statues, is said to have then brought them back to his native village where he had an oratory built in 602. According to some legends, the temple proper was founded in 670 and Zenkō, his wife and son were buried in the temple. According to other sources, there is no record of the temple being built before the 9th century, and the very name Honda Yoshimitsu lends itself to several questions. A visit to Zenkō-ji will be even more memorable if you attend the morning service (at 5:30 am) during which pilgrims pray and get blessed. You can also choose to sleep in a temple accommodation(shukubo) to participate in this daily morning service (Oasaji). A visit to the temple is an absolute must if you are in Nagano.

The first gate

To the north of the Niomon,