Tonanin Temple is one of the tacchu temples (small temples in the precinct) of Kinpusenji Temple. It is a Shugendo temple founded about 1,300 years ago by En no Gyoja. The main object of worship is En no Gyoja Jinben Daibosatsu (the deified En no Gyoja, the founder of Shugendo). When En no Gyoja founded Kinpusenji Temple, he also built this temple in the to-nan direction (southeast) of the main hall of Kinpusenji Temple.
In 1684, a master poet Matsuo Basho stayed in this area and wrote a poem for his Nozarashi Kiko (the travel diary written in Kii and Yamato provinces). In the precinct stands the stone monument with this poem inscribed in it. Tahoto pagoda with Hinoki-bark roofs stores the statues of Dainichi Nyorai, Bishamonten and Fudo Myoo. The inscription on the bronze gong called Waniguchi (crocodile mouth) at the front of the pagoda reads “the 7th year of the Eiroku era (1564).”
In spring, viewed from the top of nearby Mt. Idatenyama (370 m), Tahoto pagoda surrounded with cherry blossoms are especially beautiful.