Iwayaji

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Researched and written by Hinato

IwayajiShikoku pilgrimageKumakogencliff templeDaishi-do

Ehime · Kumakogen

33.6447°N, 132.9851°E

Not every sacred site in Ehime draws a crowd. Iwayaji is one of the ones that doesn't need to.

Iwayaji is the forty-fifth station of the Shikoku pilgrimage and one of the hardest — the walk up from the road is twenty minutes of steep path, and pilgrims call this stretch a henro-korogashi, a place where pilgrims fall over. It is founded on a cliff of conglomerate rock riddled with caves, and the buildings are pressed against and into it.

The Daishi-do, a nationally designated Important Cultural Property, is an unexpected building: put up in 1920 by an architect who had trained in Western styles, with rose motifs worked into the detailing on a mountain temple in a remote valley. Behind it a set of ascetic training places survives — a rope up a cleft in the rock and a ladder to a small shrine at the top, which visitors may climb. The stamp office is open seven to five.

Plan your visit

Time to allow

90 minutes including the climb

Hours

Stamp office 7:00 AM – 5:00 PM | Grounds accessible in daylight

Closed: Open year-round | Mountain path hazardous in ice and rain

Admission

Grounds free | Private car parks at the approach charged

Best season

Late April–May and October–November | Avoid ice and heavy rain

Getting there

Directions

1468 Nanatori, Kumakogen, Kamiukena District. Car recommended — from Matsuyama IC take Route 33 toward Kuma, turn left at the Kuma-Chugaku-mae junction onto Prefectural Route 12 and continue about 3 km past Kokumin-shukusha Furuiwayaso. From the approach entrance it is about a short walk up a steep path; private car parks are available at the entrance. The ascetic route up the rock cleft can be climbed by visitors.

Beyond the guidebook

**Twenty minutes uphill, and it is steep.** The pilgrims' name for this section translates as the place where pilgrims fall over. It is a proper climb, not an approach. **Look at the Daishi-do detailing.** Rose motifs and Western elements from 1920 on a mountain temple, by an architect trained in European styles. It is a genuinely strange and good building. **Climb the ascetic route if you are able.** A rope up a cleft in the conglomerate and then a ladder to a small shrine at the top. It is open to visitors and it is exposed. **Combine with Omogo.** The gorge is about forty minutes away in the same municipality and the two make a full day in the mountains behind Matsuyama. **Car parks are private and charged.** At the approach entrance, run by local businesses. There is no free option.

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