Iwayaji

IwayajiShikoku pilgrimageKumakogencliff templeDaishi-do

Ehime · Kumakogen

33.6447°N, 132.9851°E

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.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

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

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

Entrance Fee

Grounds free | Private car parks at the approach charged

Best Season

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

Visit Duration

90 minutes including the climb

Getting There

Access Information

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. The stamp office is open 7:00 AM – 5:00 PM. From the approach entrance it is about 20 minutes on foot up a steep path; private car parks are available at the entrance. The ascetic route up the rock cleft can be climbed by visitors.

Insider Guide

Premium

**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.

View on Google Maps