Hakusan Shrine at Taicho-ji Temple

Meet a pretty shrine deep in the woods!

By Takako Sakamoto

Community writer

Looking at the small Hakusan Shrine through cedar trees

Small Hakusan Shrine and a guardian dog in the wooded Taicho-ji Temple grounds

Hakusan Shrine surrounded by tall trees at Taicho-ji Temple

Look around and you'll find yourself in a deep bamboo grove

Two guardian dogs standing watch in the deep forest

Hakusan Shrine standing silently in deep woods

Taicho-ji Temple grounds under the setting sun

There is a small Hakusan Shrine standing silently on the grounds of Taicho-ji Temple in Fukui city. This temple was founded in 717 by the famous monk Taicho Daishi, who was the first to climb Mount Haku, one of the three Holy Mountains in Japan. Since I couldn't find any information on this small shrine, I called the temple and asked questions to the head priest. When I asked, 'How long has it been here on the temple grounds?', he answered, 'Well, I'm not sure, as long as I know it's been here for a long time. But I heard it was rebuilt because the previous one had aged'. I said, 'Then was it rebuilt after the war? (I meant WWII)', he answered, 'Yes, of course, because everything was burnt down when Oda Nobunaga attacked the area.' (Nobunaga attacked in the 16th century!) Somehow, his reply made me very happy!