Temple · Arai / Nakano

Arai Yakushi (Baishoin) 新井薬師 梅照院

A busy neighbourhood temple in Nakano famous for curing eye ailments and helping children's health, approached through a nostalgic shotengai. It has a plum and cherry garden, and locals have prayed here for good eyesight since the Edo period.

About

Baishoin, better known as Arai Yakushi, has been a popular place of prayer since the shoguns' time. The second Tokugawa shogun's daughter is said to have recovered from an eye disease after praying here, and it became known for healing the eyes. The temple's main image, a two-sided Yakushi (Medicine Buddha) and Nyoirin Kannon, is a hidden buddha shown only once every 12 years, in the Year of the Tiger. The approach from Arai-Yakushi-mae Station runs through Yakushi Ai Road, a cosy Showa-era shopping street with rice-cracker makers and old-fashioned sweet shops. The grounds have the Medicine Buddha's water, small gardens of plum and cherry, and next door a neighbourhood park. It's a living local temple, with grandparents bringing small children, a long way from the tourist circuit.

Highlights

• A temple famous since the Edo period for prayers to heal the eyes
• A hidden buddha unveiled only once every 12 years
• Plum and cherry blossoms in the small temple gardens
• The retro Yakushi Ai Road shopping street along the approach
• Monthly ennichi temple fair days on the 8th, the Yakushi day

Tips

• Approach from Arai-Yakushi-mae Station along the shotengai, then walk back to Nakano Station (about 15 min) via Nakano-dori.
• The 8th of each month is the Yakushi day, when the temple is busiest.
• Combine with Tetsugakudo Park, about 15 minutes' walk west.

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

Nearby

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• Daily Chiko (Nakano Broadway)Café & Sweets · 560 m away
• Nakano BroadwayAnime & Otaku · 570 m away
• Heiwa no Mori Park (Nakano)Park · 580 m away
• Don Quijote Nakano EkimaeUnique Store · 620 m away
• Nakano Sun Mall ArcadePhoto Spot · 760 m away
• Fujiya Camera Main Store (Nakano)Camera Store · 820 m away
• Nakano Shiki no Mori ParkPark · 900 m away