Visitors pray for healthy eyes at mountain temple in Japan

Takatori, Nara - Walking through the vast areas on the mountainside of Mount Takatori, you will see many eye-related things: ema votive tablets with a large "me” (eye) hiragana character written on each one, and the Megane Kuyo Kannon (Buddhist deity of mercy) statue to which people dedicate their old glasses.

Tsubosakadera temple in Takatori, Nara Prefecture, is known as a place where people can come to pray for eye diseases to be cured. Its main object of worship is a statue of the 11-faced, thousand-armed Kannon Bodhisattva - also called the Kannon of the Eyes - as praying to the statue is believed to be effective in curing eye diseases.

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4.7-meter wide frames

A large and especially striking pair of wooden glasses frames without lenses is placed in front of the three-story pagoda. The frames, measuring 4.7 meters wide and 1.8 meters high, were made in 1989 to fit the face of the 20-meter-tall stone Kannon statue on the temple grounds.

Glasses are an indispensable tool for people with poor eyesight. The aim of the frames is to encourage worshippers to rediscover the importance of the tool, experience the compassion of Kannon, the deity of mercy, and cultivate gratitude for all things.

The wooden object is only on public display from October to December.

"The frames are made of wood, so they rot during the wet season,” said Shoshin Kita, 55, an administrative official at the temple. "We need to think about changing them to titanium,” he joked.

The official name of the temple, which was founded in 703, is Tsubosakayama Minami Hokkeji temple.

It is said that Emperor Kanmu (reigned 781-806) and Emperor Ichijo (reigned 986-1011) visited the temple to pray for their eye diseases to be cured. In the Meiji era (1868-1912), "Tsubosaka Reigenki” (The Miracle at Tsubosaka Temple), a story set in the temple and depicting a blind man and his wife, became a popular play in kabuki and ningyo joruri puppet theater.

Because of its popularity, the temple constantly attracts worshippers.

A 68-year-old woman from Yao, Osaka Prefecture, came to give thanks at the temple after she underwent cataract surgery. "I feel that the temple takes my anxiety and soothes me,” she said.

Another woman in her 80s from Habikino in the prefecture has been visiting the temple for the past seven or eight years. The woman, who has glaucoma, put her palms together, saying that the temple gives her "a strong mind to overcome the illness.”

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Kind to the elderly

The temple is not only kind to the visually impaired but also the elderly. The stairs leading to the main hall are equipped with a wheelchair lift and ramp. Electric wheelchairs are available to rent.

"Temples are essentially places for hard training, but our temple aims to be accessible to every worshipper,” Kita said.

A nursing home for visually impaired elderly people was built in the temple in 1961 and remained there until it was relocated.

The temple’s over 1,300-year history is also a story of providing assistance to ordinary people.

From outside the main hall, visitors can enjoy a panoramic view of Yamato Sanzan (the three mountains of Yamato), the Nara Basin and even Mount Rokko in Kobe in the distance. The large Kannon statue looks kindly on everyone.

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Temple sells eye drops, lens cleaner, candy

Before the eighth century in Yamato - present-day Nara Prefecture - an event called "kusuri-gari” (medicine hunting) is said to have been held to collect plants and animals that could be used as medicine.

In the Edo period (1603-1867), lords of the local Takatori domain successfully expanded the domain’s channels for selling medicine. The lords promoted their medicines to the lords of various domains during their stay in Edo, now Tokyo, since feudal lords of that time had to Travel regularly between their domains and Edo. The area had flourished as a "medicine town” because of its medicine manufacturing and wholesale business.

The temple has been selling eye drops since around the end of the Edo period. Currently, the temple sells a 1,200 yen eye drop product as a licensed pharmaceutical retailer. It also sells a candy containing powder from the "megusuri no ki” (eye medicine tree), also called Nikko maple, the bark extract of which is used in folk medicine.

The temple also sells unique souvenirs related to the eye, such as lens cleaning cloths with images of the Great Buddha wearing glasses and a tenugui hand towel with the Buddha’s hands arranged like an eye test chart.

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How to get there
The temple is a 20-minute bus ride from Tsubosakayama Station on the Kintetsu Yoshino Line. It is sixth of the 33 temples along the historic Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage route.

It is also a known viewing spot for cherry blossoms. Megane Kuyo-e, a ceremony to thank old eyeglasses and sunglasses that a person has stopped using, is held every year on Oct. 18.