Temple · Tennoji

Shitennoji 四天王寺

One of Japan's oldest official Buddhist temples, founded by Prince Shotoku in 593, with a five-storey pagoda in the original straight-line layout, an Edo-period paradise garden and a sprawling flea market on the 21st and 22nd of each month.

About

Shitennoji was founded by Prince Shotoku, regent and champion of Buddhism, after his side won a battle in 587; he vowed to build a temple to the Four Heavenly Kings if victorious. Its main buildings have burned and been rebuilt many times, most recently in concrete after 1945, but they faithfully follow the Shitennoji-style plan: middle gate, five-storey pagoda, golden hall and lecture hall in a single north-south line inside a cloister. You can climb inside the pagoda. The great stone torii at the west gate, rebuilt in 1294, is an Important Cultural Property and marks the old belief that the setting sun here was the eastern gate of the Western Paradise. The Gokuraku Jodo garden recreates that paradise with streams and ponds, and the treasure house holds sutras and objects linked to Shotoku. On the 21st (Kobo Daishi) and 22nd (Prince Shotoku) of each month, hundreds of stalls fill the grounds with antiques, used kimono, tools and food.

Highlights

• Central precinct in the 6th-century straight-line layout, with a climbable five-storey pagoda
• Ishi-no-torii stone gate of 1294, an Important Cultural Property
• Gokuraku Jodo garden of streams and ponds
• Daishi-e and Taishi-e flea markets on the 21st and 22nd of each month
• Shotoku-related treasures in the treasure house

Tips

• Come on the 21st for the bigger flea market; start early, as the best antiques go by 10:00.
• The outer grounds are free; only the central precinct, garden and treasure house charge.
• Walk on to Isshinji and the Tennoji temple town, five minutes west.

Open in Google Maps · Info checked 2026-10-09

Nearby

• Aizendo Shoman-inTemple · 480 m away
• Kiyomizu-dera (Osaka)Temple · 480 m away
• Isshinji TempleTemple · 520 m away
• Tennoji Park and Keitakuen GardenPark · 650 m away
• Osaka City Museum of Fine ArtsArt & Exhibits · 690 m away
• Kuchinawazaka SlopePhoto Spot · 720 m away
• Tennoji Station & Osaka AbenobashiTransit Hub · 820 m away
• Coin Lockers · Tennoji Station (JR & Osaka Metro)Luggage Storage · 820 m away