Last Updated: Oct 7, 2023

Shigisan Chogosonshi-ji

A Mountaintop Hidden Gem in Nara

Every single time that I think I’ve completed a prefecture, Japan turns around and hits me in the face with evidence that I’ll never be able to fully write somewhere off. Just recently, this reminder happened while I was down in Nara. As part of a tour arranged by the prefectural powers that be, I was to spend the night at a shukubo pilgrim lodging on Nara’s Mt. Shigi (Shigisan in Japanese). It didn’t dawn on me until I arrived at the mountaintop Shigisan Chogosonshi-ji temple compound that I had somehow managed to miss out on this amazing hidden gem for all these years.

If you haven’t heard of Shigisan Chogosonshi-ji before, I suspect that you’re not alone. Despite dating from the earliest eras of Japanese history, Nara’s Mt. Shigi and its Buddhist temple somehow have evaded the attention of international tourists thus far. Legends state that Shigisan Chogosonshi-ji and its tiger connection got its start back in the 6th century. Allegedly, the benevolent Prince Shotoku came here to pray to Bishamonten, a fierce protector deity of Buddhism. If you believe what they say, he prayed in the year of the tiger, on the day and hour of the tiger for victory.

Given the existence of Shigisan Chogosonshi-ji, it will come as no surprise to…