Seisuiji Temple

Located in Niigata, Sado island is the sixth largest island of Japan with more than 55,000 inhabitants. Like many other islands, Sado was used in the 8th century as an ideal place of banishment or exile for people in the area. It is only in around 1589 that Sado’s fortune changed when people started digging gold out of the island.

However, it was under Emperor Kanmu’s ordinance, in 808 that Seisuiji Temple was founded by a Buddhist monk who came from Kyoto while traveling Japan on a missionary tour. Meaning “Salvation” in Japanese, Seisuiji Temple’s main hall is highly influenced by Kyoto’s famous Kiyomizu-dera and features the same Kanji : 清水寺, while being officially named Seisuiji. Like Kiyomizudera, Seisuiji’s main worship is the 1,000-armed Kannon Bosatsu (Goddess of Mercy).