Injo-ji Temple (Senbon Emma-do Hall)

This temple, known formally as Komyozan Kangi-in Injo-ji, enshrines as its main image a statue of Emma, the King (or Judge) of Hell. It is commonly known as Senbon Emma-do.
It was founded by Ono-no-Takamura (802-853), who legend says had a mystical power that allowed him to pass back and forth between this world and the next: by day he was in the palace, but at night, he attended the court of Emma. The temple first started when an image of Emma was enshrined at Suzaku Oji-Kashira.
Later, the priest Jokaku, a disciple of Genshin , founded Komyozan Kangi-in Injo-ji on this site with the idea of Buddhism that led all people to goodness and received them .
The current statue of Emma was carved in 1488, and is 2.4 meters tall. Takamura believed in the practice of lighting welcoming fires to guide returning souls, and that erecting sotoba (wooden votive tablets) and welcoming bells would create a fundamental training hall (konpon-dojo) to purify the current world. Ever since, folk worship, regardless of school or sect, has continued here.
The Senbon Emma-do Dainenbutsu Kyogen performed here every May is the only spoken play among the Kyoto Three Great Nenbutsu Kyogen performances, and has been registered as an Intangible Folk-Cultural Property by Kyoto City.
The famous cherry tree, Fugenzo Sakura, is a rare type that has two leaves (actually pistils) emerging from the flower when it blossoms, and the flower falls off as a whole rather than petal by petal. It is said that there were once a thousand cherry trees here, or that there were a thousand wooden sotoba votive tablets for the spirits, thus giving the area the name “senbon” or “thousand trees.”
The priest En’a erected a stupa at this temple in 1386 to pray for the repose of Murasaki Shikibu. This stupa is a rare ten-level one made of stone, and has been classified as a National Important Cultural Property.
Kyoto City