The temple gate holds a plaque inscribed with Kotoku-in’s official name “Daii-san.” The gate was moved together with a pair of Nio (Vajrapani) images, enshrined inside the gate, from another location and rebuilt in the beginning of the 18th century.

Kotoku-in Nio Temp　le Guardians’ Restoration Report
▶ PDF file of book （Japanese version only)
▶ Appendix DVD-ROM contents (Japanese version only）

The Kangetsu-do Hall is believed to have been part of the imperial palace in mid-15th century Hanyang (present-day Seoul), Korea. In 1924, the former owner of the building, Kisei Sugino (1870–1939, president of Yamaichi Goshi Kaisha [later known as Yamaichi Securities Co., Ltd.]), moved it from the Sugino mansion in Meguro, Tokyo, to Kotoku-in, donating it to the temple. The Hall houses a standing image of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva (Kannon Bosatsu), believed to date from the late Edo period.

On the inside wall of corridor to the right facing the Great Buddha rest a pair of huge warazori (length: 1.8 meters; width: 0.9 meters; weight: 45 kilograms), a gift from the Matsuzaka Children’s Club of Hitachi-Ota City (Ibaraki Prefecture). The warazori were first woven and donated by the children in 1951, at a time when Japan was still recovering from the ravages of World War II, with the wish that “the Great Buddha would don them to walk around Japan, bringing happiness to the people.” The Matsuzaka Children’s Club keeps this tradition alive to this day: since 1956, they have continued to make these giant warazori and present them to Kotoku-in once every three years.

Visitors are welcome to stop in here to obtain the temple’s commemorative red seal (goshuin). Application forms are available at the office.

This shop sells an array of good-luck charms and other souvenirs.

Purchase tickets here.