Saizen-in Temple (西善院)
Saizen-in Temple Along the sando (approach pathway) to Samukawa-jinja Shrine is Saizen-in Temple (西善院), a Buddhist temple of the Koyasan Shingon sect. Historically, the temple's priest served as the guso (供僧) — a Buddhist priest assigned to conduct rituals at a Shinto shrine — responsible for offering omiki (sacred sake) during Setsubun and the Yoka-sai, a festival held on the 8th of January, June, and November. Samukawa-jinja Shrine had four more subordinate temples: Yakuo-ji Temple (薬王寺), which served as the betto-ji (a Buddhist temple that managed a Shinto shrine), Jinsho-ji Temple (神照寺), Nakanobo Temple (中之坊), and Sandaibo Temple (三大坊). Following the shinbutsu bunri (separation of Shinto and Buddhism) policy introduced by Japan's newly-formed Meiji government in 1868, Saizen-in Temple became independent from the shrine. The head priests of Yakuo-ji Temple and Jinsho-ji Temple became laypersons and later transitioned into Shinto priests serving at Samukawa-jinja Shr...
