Impressive Ceiling Paintings in the Hondō

• Name: Amida Nyorai, Kanzeon Bosatsu, Fudō Myōō, Yakushi Nyorai, Jizō Bosatsu
• Principal Image: Yakushi Nyorai (Medicine Buddha)
• Goeika (Pilgrimage Song):
• Revealing the six impurities and the five shrines,
• deep is the joy of the deities of Niida.

Access From Temple No. 36, Shōryū-ji

• On foot: Follow the Tosa Yokonami Kuroshio Line to National Route 56. Approx. 60 km, 18 hours.
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• By Car: Same route as on foot. Approx. 60 km, 1 hour 30 minutes.
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• Public Transport: From the Miyamae Skyline Iriguchi bus stop, take the Tosaden Kōtsū Bus bound for Takaoka Eigyōsho for 20 minutes to Tosa Shiyakusho-mae. Transfer to the Tosaden Kōtsū Bus bound for the Susaki branch office, ride for 40 minutes, and get off at Susaki Station. From Susaki Station, take the JR Dosan Line for 40 minutes and get off at Kubokawa Station.

The Only Temple in the Shikoku Pilgrimage with Five Principal Images

The origins of Iwamoto-ji trace back to Fukuenman-ji, founded during the Nara period by Gyōki. Fukuenman-ji served as the bettō-ji (administrative Buddhist temple) of the nearby Niida Myōjin Shrine. During the Kōnin era (810–824), Kōbō Daishi visited the temple and erected five shrines, dividing and enshrining the sacred objects of Niida Myōjin among them. He placed Fudō Myōō, Kannon Bosatsu, Amida Nyorai, Yakushi Nyorai, and Jizō Bosatsu as their honjibutsu—the Buddhist deities regarded as the original forms of the kami. These are the Five Shrines of Niida—the very “five shrines” praised in the pilgrim hymn. Fukuenman-ji fell into ruin during the Sengoku period, and Iwamoto-bō, which oversaw the region’s shrines and temples, succeeded its spiritual lineage, eventually leading to present-day Iwamoto-ji.

Diverse Ceiling Paintings in Varied Styles

The Hondō is renowned for its splendid ceiling paintings. In 1978 (Shōwa 53), 575 paintings were selected through a nationwide open call, encompassing a wide variety of artistic styles and subjects. Alongside traditional motifs such as birds and flowers, Sanskrit seed syllables (bonji), and Buddhist images, there are landscapes, portraits, sailboats, and abstract compositions—creating a remarkably unconventional decorative ensemble for a Buddhist temple. It is likely the only temple in all of Japan whose ceiling features a portrait of actress Marilyn Monroe.
Although the precincts are not particularly spacious, they possess an air of dignity, featuring a stately Niō-mon Gate, the wooden circular Kangiten-dō, and the Daishi-dō.

A Journey That Is Itself Ascetic Training

Although Iwamoto-ji is located in the town center close to Kubokawa Station, the distances connecting it to neighboring temples are formidable. The journey from Temple 36, Shōryū-ji, is roughly 60 km—taking two full days on foot, or an hour and a half by car. The distance to the next temple, Temple 38 Kongōfuku-ji, exceeds 90 km, making it the longest inter-temple stretch on the entire Shikoku Pilgrimage. It requires three days of walking, or nearly three hours even by car. While the temples of Tosa (Kōchi) are traditionally referred to as the “Dōjō of Ascetic Practice,” traveling these vast distances makes one feel that the journey remains a true ascetic practice, even in modern times with well-developed transit networks.

DATA

Address: 3-13 Shigekushi-machi, Shimanto-chō, Takaoka-gun, Kōchi Prefecture
Phone: 0880-22-0376
Access: 10-minute walk from Kubokawa Station on the JR Dosan Line.
Parking: Available (Paid)
Lodging: Private rooms and shared rooms partitioned by fusuma sliding doors are available from 8,800 yen with two meals. A whole building is also available for rent, equipped with two Japanese-style rooms, a living/dining room, and a bathroom (30,000 yen per night for 1–2 guests; 50,000 yen per night for 3 to a maximum of 6 guests).

Your Pilgrimage, Your Art

Completing the Shikoku Pilgrimage is a once-in-a-lifetime journey—but what if you could preserve it in a form that lasts forever?

Many pilgrims collect red stamps and calligraphy from each temple on a special silk scroll called a nōkyōjiku.

This sacred record of your path can be transformed into a kakejiku—a traditional Japanese hanging scroll—not only preserving the memories, but turning them into a work of cultural and spiritual art.

It’s more than a souvenir—it’s a way to honor your journey, your prayers, and your growth.

To learn more about how a nōkyōjiku becomes a kakejiku, and what makes this transformation so meaningful, please refer the below link.