Bando No.16 Mizusawa Temple

Mizusawa-dera, commonly known as Mizusawa Kannon, is a Tendai Buddhist temple in Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture, carrying the mountain name Gotoku-san. It serves as the 16th station on the Bandō Pilgrimage, a centuries-old circuit of 33 temples across the Kantō region dedicated to the Bodhisattva Kannon. The wooded approach to the temple — stone lanterns flanking a forested path — sets an atmosphere of quiet devotion that has drawn pilgrims since the medieval period. Visitors completing the full 33-temple route treat Mizusawa as a key waypoint, though the temple is also visited independently for its serene woodland setting.