Seigenji Temple

Seigenji is known for its sixteen rakan figures, each with a face of its own, along with a Shaka triad and a Sumiyoshi deity. All were carved by the mokujiki priest Gogyo Myoman, who stopped here for five months in the course of his pilgrimage around Japan. The plain, forceful style of the work still attracts attention. Mokujiki, incidentally, is the general term for monks undertaking an austerity in which they eat buckwheat flour and nuts, giving up the five grains along with meat and vegetables.