Hozen-ji Temple — Attraction in Osaka

Walking through the covered arcades from to Namba Station, it's hard to imagine what the city looked like in centuries past. The discreetly hidden Hozenji Temple, however, manages to preserve a small slice of old Japan right in the middle of this otherwise chaotic shopping area.Hozenji Temple is a short walk from Dotonbori Bridge. From the bridge, walk into the covered shopping arcade heading toward Namba, turn left at the intersection bordered by the Bookoff bookstore and ABC Mart shoe store. Walk one block to arrive at Hozenji Temple.Built in 1637, Hozenji Temple pays homage to Fudo Myoo, one of five guardians of Buddhism. During the 1600s,and the surrounding area ofwere blossoming as a center for entertainment, with dramatic performances of kabuki and bunraku taking place throughout the district. Even the temple catered to the performing arts, with traditional rakugo storytelling and stage plays performed on site. Today, you can pay a visit to Hozenji Temple and enjoy traditional culture by glimpsing into Osaka's past at Hozenji Yokocho.Hozenji Temple is best known for its statue of Fudo Myoo, lovingly known as Mizukake Fudo by the locals. As is tradition, find the statue of Fudo Myoo and splash it with water. This is said to bring you good luck. You'll notice the statue is covered head to toe in moss, the result of many thousands of visitors pouring...

We decided to drop by this place since it was one of the highly recommended places to visit and due to its proximity to the Dotomburi/Namba area, where all the night action in Osaka were found. The temple is a good detour to visit if you're around the Dotomburi/Namba and looking for a little tranquility, but it is not worth making the trip down just for the temple. Slightly bigger than the size of a master bedroom, there is not much to see here aside from the moss covered deity and usual wooden board messages that adorn Japanese shrines or temples.

The area surrounding the temple, which I guess is a part of Namba/Dotomburi is worth the visit though. So if you're in the area at night doing some shopping or food hunting, you might want to consider passing through the temple just to take a look. Perhaps have a change in environment from the busy shopping streets. Otherwise, this is not...

Hozenji Temple was an exciting place/temple to go too. Me and my daughter went at night most of the temples are very hot in were l live but in japan it was really cold so my daughter didn't complan. I was a really small temple (not as big as l thought it would be.) My daughter was having fun and taking photos (asking me to take photos of her.) The light wasn't very that bright so it was hard to take photos but l understanded because it was night time and you know you couldn't expect much from that. My daughters favourite part was when we throw my coins she like seeing where it would go in the slits. Every time she gets it in she would say "mommy mommy l got it in l am very good at this could l have more coins to throw it in." And l would clap and say"good job but l think maybe were going out of coins so maybe next time." I was happy to see my family happy and l wish to go...