Chomei-temple

Stop 31 on Japan's oldest pilgrimage route: a serene Tendai temple in Ōmihachiman, housing three Kannon statues amid wooded hills above Lake Biwa.

Chōmei-ji — "Temple of Long Life" — stands in the city of Ōmihachiman in Shiga Prefecture, nestled in gentle wooded hills on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa. The temple belongs to the Tendai school of Japanese Buddhism and enshrines three special Kannon statues: a thousand-armed, an eleven-faced, and a Shō-Kannon. This triad makes it an important site on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, Japan's oldest pilgrimage route visiting 33 temples across the Kansai region. Chōmei-ji is the 31st stop along this path. Visitors who pause on the temple grounds after the climb enjoy quiet, moss-covered stone lanterns and occasional glimpses of Lake Biwa through the trees.