Churenji Temple of Mt. Yudono was founded in the year 825 by the founder of Shingon Buddhism: Kobo Daishi (also known as Kukai). 

Later, in 835, the virtuous monk Shinnen, a disciple of Kobo Daishi who longed to visit the sacred site established by his master, came from Kyoto and built the Yudonosan Gongen Hall, becoming the temple’s first abbot.  

Churenji Temple and Kobo Daishi

During Kobo Daishi’s pilgrimage through the Tohoku region, he saw Sanskrit characters forming “Abiraunken”—radiating light as they flowed down the Akagawa River from Sakata. Following the river upstream, he reached the Bonjigawa river and finally arrived at this site. 

From the highlands of Shimekake, the surrounding mountain ridges spread out in eight directions like the petals of a lotus blossom. Recognizing this as a pure and sacred land, Kobo Daishi hung a shimenawa sacred rope, built an altar, and prayed. 

In response, the divine messenger of Yudonosan Daigongen, the Eight Great Vajra Children (Hachidai Kongo Doji), appeared and guided him to the sacred site of Mt. Yudono.  It is said that Kobo Daishi carved and enshrined an image of Dainichi Nyorai, the Cosmic Buddha of the Diamond and Womb realm seen as the central figure of Shingon Buddhism, marking the founding of Churenji Temple.  

The cherry tree upon which he hung the sacred rope became known as the Shimekake-zakura, the temple’s sacred tree. The appearance of the Eight Great Vajra Children—with white cloth crowns, dressed in white garments, and wearing shimenawa ropes around their necks—became the model for the attire worn by practitioners and pilgrims at Mt. Yudono.  

As the main temple of the front approach to Mt. Yudono, Churenji became a central site of Yudonosan worship. Since both Mt. Gassan and Mt. Yudono were off-limits to women, Churenji served as a place of remote worship for women and flourished as the principal training ground for ascetic practitioners of Mt. Yudono.

About Tetsumonkai Shonin

Tetsumonkai Shonin was born in 1759 in the former Daihoji Village of present-day Tsuruoka City and worked as a river laborer. At the age of 21, he entered Churenji Temple and undertook 2,000 days of mokujiki (tree-eating) ascetic training in Senninzawa. As a mokujiki ascetic, he traveled to various regions to spread his teachings, devoting his life to the revival and expansion of the declining Yudonosan faith. 

He passed away at the age of 71. In his youth, Tetsumonkai Shonin worked as a river laborer and was said to be hot-blooded. One day, he quarreled with a samurai over a courtesan he was close to and accidentally struck the samurai dead. Killing, especially killing a samurai, was a grave crime. 

Cornered with no way out, he fled to Churenji Temple and took monastic vows at the age of 25, beginning a life of religious training. Among the ascetic practices required of practitioners of Yudonosan is the “Mountain Confinement Practice,” performed in Senninzawa, deep within the sacred mountain. During this training, ascetics abstain from all grains and live only on wild plants and nuts. The practice is often undertaken in units of 1,000 days, and some complete as many as 3,000 days—about ten years. 

During this period, the courtesan he once loved came to visit him, hoping to rekindle their relationship. Tetsumonkai Shonin told her, “I am now a monk. Women are an obstacle to my training,” and sent her away. At that time, he is said to have cut off his own testicles and given them to her to affirm his intent to follow the monk's way. Afterward, she reportedly became prosperous, blessed with many clients. The testicles of Tetsumonkai Shonin were passed among courtesans as a charm for business success and are now enshrined at Nangakuji Temple in Tsuruoka City. (Scientific analysis later confirmed that the blood type of Tetsumonkai Shonin’s mummified body matched that of the relic, lending credibility to this legend.) 

After completing his training, Tetsumonkai Shonin traveled throughout Japan, devoting himself to charitable works. His efforts extended from the Tohoku region to Shikoku, and nearly 200 monuments commemorating his virtue remain today. 

While in Edo during a temple exhibition, a severe eye disease spread through the city. To pray for the end of the epidemic, Tetsumonkai Shonin gouged out his own left eye and cast it into the Sumida River. For this act of compassion, he was given the honorary title “Egen-in.” Examination of his mummified body revealed that his left eye had indeed been removed during his lifetime, supporting the truth of this story. After returning to Shonai, Tetsumonkai Shonin once again undertook a grain-abstinence practice and resolved to become a living Buddha (sokushinbutsu). 

However, according to the testimony of Chukai Shonin, the abbot of Churenji at the time, he caught a severe cold and died before he could complete the burial meditation ritual. His followers, wishing to honor his intent, completed the mummification process after his death. While it was once believed that he died at age 62, recent research indicates he was 72. His body was washed in seawater and dried with one hundred candles at Churenji. 

The abbot Seikai Shonin later said the smell was so terrible that he gave up his own aspiration to become a living Buddha. In addition to Tetsumonkai Shonin, there were once other sokushinbutsu at Churenji, but they were destroyed in a fire during the Meiji era and no longer exist. A similar legend exists at Dainichibo Temple.

Did you know?

The filmmaker Ishiro Honda, famous for directing and co-writing Godzilla, was the son of monks of Churenji Temple!

Please note that for health reasons, Churenji Temple's insides can only be visited upon reservation.

Self-guided pilgrims who booked with us can plan a visit.