Shitennō-ji

A temple located in Tennoji Ward, Osaka City, and the head temple of the Wa-shu sect. It is one of Japan's oldest full-scale Buddhist temples, founded by Prince Shotoku in the first year of Empress Suiko's reign (593 CE). The principal enshrined deity is Kuse Kannon Bosatsu (Savior Avalokiteshvara). The name originates from the legend that Prince Shotoku vowed to build a temple housing the Four Heavenly Kings if he were granted victory in battle against Mononobe no Moriya, offering statues of the Four Heavenly Kings as a pledge. The 'Shitennō-ji style layout,' which arranges the Middle Gate, Five-Story Pagoda, Golden Hall, and Lecture Hall in a straight north-south line, is the oldest temple layout in Japan and became the standard for subsequent Japanese temple architecture. Prince Shotoku also established the 'Shika-in system' (consisting of the Kyōden-in, Seyaku-in, Ryōbyō-in, and Hiden-in), which served as a pioneering social welfare system. Although it belonged to the Tendai sect for a long time, it became independent in 1946 (Shōwa 21) and became the head temple of the Wa-shu sect.