四天王寺庚申堂

The place where Japan's first Koshin deity is said to have appeared; the principal image, Shomen Kongo Doji, is a hidden one. On the koshin day in the first month of Taiho 1 (701) the priest Gohan prayed with all his heart to save the many people suffering in an epidemic, and a child appeared as the messenger of Taishakuten and showed the power to turn away disaster and illness. For thirteen centuries since, a wish made to the image on a koshin day or the evening before it has been held certain to be granted. The first koshin day of the year is the grandest, with a reading of the Great Perfection of Wisdom sutra the day before and a great saito goma fire on the day itself. On koshin days stalls fill the grounds, among them the north-facing konnyaku. Take the blessing at the hall of the three monkeys, it is said, and what hurts is healed at once.

Translated and shortened from the Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City tourist listings (観光施設一覧, CC BY 4.0).