Kosenji Temple in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, is an historic temple pertaining to the Taira clan. In 1321, after the fall of the Taira clan, a descendant of Taira no Shigemori, known as Komatsu Naidaijin (Inner Minister), disguised himself as a mountain practitioner and came to this village, escaping from his enemies. He founded a temple named Komatsu-dera Temple, where he placed the statue of Amida Nyorai, which was his family’s guardian Buddha, and held memorial services for his deceased ancestors. Later, the temple was changed its name to Kosenji Temple.

The principal object of worship, the statue of Amida Nyorai, was presented to Shigemori by the temple in Auyung in present Ningbo City in China, and treasured as the guardian of the family. After it was enshrined at this temple, it has been named Komatsu Nyorai after Shigemori, and worshipped by local people.  

The temple possesses a lot of cultural properties such as the statue of Idatenjin, the Jizo statue carved by Kaikei and the 12 ancestral tablets including the one for Shigemori, which make us think of the rise and fall of the Taira clan, who once ruled the country.

Abe Monjuin located in Sakurai City, Nara Pref. is a temple of Kegon Sect. Its Sango (the name of the mountain on which it is located) is Abe-san. It is formally named “Abe-san Suikyoji Monjuin.” This temple is said to have been founded by Abe no Kurahashimaro, the Minister of the Left, in the year of Great Reformation of the Taika Era (645). It was relocated to the present place in the Kamakura period (1192-1333) and was so flourished as to be counted as one of 15 Large Temples in Yamato. It was, however, destroyed by fire during a battle in 1563, and was rebuilt later in 1665. The main object of worship is the image of Kishi Monju Bosatsu (Monju Bodhisattva in riding-lion form), which is a colorfully painted wooden image carved by Kaikei, a master Buddhist sculptor in the Kamakura period. It is the largest Monju Bosatsu in Japan. Abe Monjuin together with “Kirido no Monju” at Chioin Temple in Amanohashidate in Kyoto Pref. and “Kameoka no Monju” in Oshu-Nagai, Yamagata Pref. is counted as one of the 3 Large Monju Bosatsu in Japan. As Monju Bosatsu is the Japanese Buddhist deity of study and education, the temple is visited by a lot of students taking an entrance examination to a university.