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Imakoyasan
kouzan, Sera Town, Sera-gun
今高野山 世羅郡世羅町 甲山
Map	Imakoyasan was once an important temple as a Shingon Buddhist center during the period when Koyasan Temple in Kishu (now Wakayama Prefecture) made a big manor in this area and dispatched a monk as an administrator after the manor had been donated by the retired Emperor Goshirakawa in 1186.
Imakoyasan Temple is situated in Sera Town which is about 80 kilometers northeast from Hiroshima City. This area was a big manor of Koyasan Temple in Kishu Province and Imakoyasan Temple was built as a key center to rule cultivated fields of 613 hectares in the late 12th century. The temple's principal images of Buddha, two eleven-faced Kannon statues made of cherry wood in the 10th century, will be open to the public on the day of the Hatsukaebisu summer festival which usually falls on the third Sunday of August. The main parts of the 300-year-old event are an afternoon parade of decorated floats called "Danjiri", and short street performances at night named "Niwaka". From Kozan-eigyosho-mae busstop cross Route 184 at Imakoyasan-mae intersection and walk to the main gate of Imakoyasan Temple toward the mountain side for a few minutes. From the grounds of the temple, you can take a 15-minute ascent to the Kojoyama observatory to overlook the whole town. To return to the temple you can take another walking path for about 30 minutes. Click this link to see a tour map of Imakoyasan Temple (Nihongo). Getting there: * You can take a highway bus bound for Kounu from No.6 gate at Hiroshima Bus Center at 8:00 a.m. and get off at Kozan-eigyosho-mae busstop. It will take one hour and 30 minutes. A round trip ticket will be 3,700 yen. * In case of going by car, you can park at a parking lot at Imakoyasan Temple. It will take about an hour and 20 minutes from central Hiroshima if you take Sanyo Expressway to Kochi exit and take Rte.432 to Kozan. Click this link to see an access map of Kozan (Nihongo). Suggested schedule: Hiroshima Bus Center(10:00)==(Sanyo Expressway)==Mihara-Kui exit==(Rte.25)== ==(Rte.184)==Kozan-eigyosho-mae busstop(11:30)---Imakoyasan Temple(12:00)--- ---Kojoyama observatory(13:00)---Imakoyasan Temple(14:00)--- ---Kozan-eigyosho-mae busstop(16:23)==(Rte.184)==(Rte.25)==Mihara-Kui IC== ==(Sanyo Expressway)==Hiroshima Bus Center(17:51) * Bus timetable may be subject to change. Note: To be safe, especially in winter, keep in mind not go into the mountains alone, and be sure to go with a well-experienced hiker.