Ichijō-ji, a Tendai Buddhist temple in Kasai, Hyōgo Prefecture, is the 26th stop on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage and has deep if partly legendary early roots. Tradition links its founding to the monk Hōdō and an imperial order in 650, while nearby remains show Buddhism was established here from an early period. The temple may have moved to its present site by the late 12th century. Its three-story pagoda, built in 1171, is a National Treasure, one of Japan’s oldest surviving pagodas, and a major example of late Heian wayō architecture. Repeated fires destroyed much of the complex, but the pagoda endured, and rebuilt halls and treasured artworks preserve the temple’s long religious and artistic importance.

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