Heisenji Hakusan Jinja Shrine

Heisenji Hakusan Jinja Shrine is one of Japan's "Moss Temples", located inside Fukui prefecture. It used to be a Buddhist temple, but was turned into a Shinto shrine in the Meiji period (1868-1912). Once vast and prosperous, the temple was burnt to the ground centuries ago in the late 16th Century. Though it has since been rebuilt, the scale of the rebuilding effort is incomparable to the original condition of the shrine. In the present day, an excavation effort has attempted to recover lost relics of the shrine's past, which has resulted in the 200 hectares surrounding the temple becoming designated as a National Historic Site. Approaching the rebuilt shrine, the forest path will be covered in a velvety carpet of moss, which gives it a uniquely natural aesthetic. The Hakusan Heisenji Temple is over 1000 years old, and it carries that history with it in every stone. Even the path walked on is consecrated, with the stones having been carved into with the characters of the Lotus Sutra. History enthusiasts will have an especial appreciation for the Hakusan Heisenji Shrine.