Takkoku-no-Iwaya

Takkoku-no-Iwaya (達谷窟) is a Tendai sect Buddhist temple in Hiraizumi in southern Iwate Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of Japan. Its main image is a stone image of Bishamon-ten. Its formal name is the Takkoku no Iwaya Bishamon-do (達谷窟毘沙門堂). The grounds have been designated a National Historic Site since 2005

Overview
Takkoku no Iwaya is located approximately six kilometers southwest of Hiraizumi, between the center of town and Genbikei ravine. The temple is built below an overhanging cliff, and incorporates a shallow cave containing a bas-relief statue of Bishamon-ten. In the Heian period, a large statue of Fudō Myōō (designated an Iwate Prefectural Cultural Property) and a bas-relief image of Buddha carved into the rock face were added.

The temple claims to have been founded by the imperial dynasty Chinjufu-shōgun Sakanoue no Tamuramaro in 801 AD to commemorate his victory over the local Emishi tribes, who had used this cave as a fortification. The temple was described in the Kamakura period chronicle, Azuma Kagami.

The temple has burned down many times and its original form is unknown today; the current building dates from 1961 and was modeled after the famous Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto.

Takkoku-no-Iwaya was included in the original 2006 nomination of "Hiraizumi - Cultural Landscape Associated with Pure Land Buddhist Cosmology”, but was removed from the nomination after the failure to secure inscription in 2008; although there are continuing efforts to secure its inclusion through future extension.