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The Yomiuri Shimbun Chojin Kondo, chief priest of Matsuoji temple in Maibara, Shiga Prefecture, talks about the propeller on display above his head. The photo was taken with special permission from the temple.
By Kayo Hayashi / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
16:07 JST, March 22, 2025
MAIBARA, Shiga — The clear waters of the Soya River flows past Mt. Matsuoji, which rises in the northeastern part of Shiga Prefecture. Deep in the mountains in Maibara in the prefecture is Matsuoji temple, which belongs to the Tendai sect of Buddhism. The temple, located near Samegai Gorge, displays a real fighter plane propeller in its main hall.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
The wooden propeller, about 3 meters long, is an unusual object for a temple. It shares a connection with a pair of principal images belonging to the temple called “Kuju Higyo Kanzeon Bosatsu” (Flying Kannon Bodhisattva), which are usually not displayed to the public.
Flying Kannon images
According to temple legend, it was founded in 680 when two Kannon statues flew from a cloud in the sky to En no Gyoja, who is said to be the founder of mountain asceticism, during his training in the mountains, and he enshrined the statues in a cave. In the 16th century, when the temple’s main hall was burned down by the warlord Oda Nobunaga’s forces, the principal statues escaped by flying away.
In front of the zushi miniature shrine now containing the statues, there are another pair of Buddhist statues called “omae dachi.” As the principal statues are usually hidden from view except during a public event called gokaicho, visitors worship the omae dachi statues instead.
The Yomiuri Shimbun A pair of omae dachi Buddhist statues, which are worshipped by visitors.
“We still keep wooden signboards that were displayed during past gokaicho events,” said Chojin Kondo, 50, chief priest of the temple.
A signboard from the late Edo period (1603-1867) reads “sacred image flying from cloud.”
The temple was visited by airmen during wartime. It is said that young airmen who had completed their training worshipped here before flying into battle.
The propeller in the main hall was dedicated to the temple in 1935, two years before the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, by the army airmen training school in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture.
“It is said that most of the temple’s wartime materials were discarded, but the propeller has been preserved because of the efforts of local people and bereaved families of those who died in the war, I think,” Kondo said. “It tells us that we must not forget the war’s victims.”
Prayer for space probe
Prayers for safe aviation have changed over time, but they continue to be offered to this today.
Nowadays, pilots and other aviation personnel, as well as overseas travelers, visit the temple to pray. People even went to the temple to pray for the successful return of the Hayabusa2 space probe developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
Fighters fly around the world and airplane accidents still occur.
“Airplanes must not be used to kill people. I want them to be for peace and happiness,” said Kondo.
Kondo works as a chef at Samegairo, a restaurant located next to the temple. The restaurant specializes in river fish and serves rainbow trout grilled slowly over a charcoal fire. It was started by his grandfather when he was the temple’s chief priest to help maintain the temple without any parishioners.
“I want to use the profits from the restaurant business for the temple to continue its history,” Kondo said.
While in the gorge, I enjoyed a moment of peace. As I listened to the murmur of the clear stream nearby, I feel peace in the propeller that will never fly again.
Tourists can enjoy art of wood carving
The sound of hammers on wood can be heard in the Kaminyu area where Matsuoji temple is located. The area along the river is called a “wood carving village,” which has been home to wood-carvers, lacquerware painters and metal ornaments craftsmen for generations.
The Yomiuri Shimbun Visitors have the opportunity to make various wooden items using authentic carving knives.
The area is particularly known for making Buddhist altars.
In the late Edo period, a local man and his younger brother studied sculpture in Kyoto and returned to their hometown. It is said that they then used high-quality wood from Mt. Ryozen to create highly decorative carvings for Buddhist altars and ranma wooden panels, among other items.
These skills have been passed down to the Kaminyu Woodpeckers, a group of artisans. To make the tradition better known, various experiences are on offer at the group’s workshop, such as viewing the production of ranma and making coasters, pot mats and hangers using authentic carving knives. These programs are popular among both Japanese and foreign tourists.
