Kōnomine-ji is temple No. 27 on the Shikoku pilgrimage or Henro. It’s located on the hillside around 430 m above sea level on Mt. Kōnomine. The temple buildings are distributed over the mountainside, linked by steep steps. From the temple precincts, you can catch glimpses of the Pacific Ocean.

Kōnomine-ji is accessed by road and by a Henro trail known as matate, which means “straight up”, since it continues for more than a kilometre at a slope of 45 degrees. It’s the ninth highest of the 88 temples and the highest in Kōchi Prefecture. In the Edo period, some pilgrims would complete their worship at a sub-temple at the foot of the mountain. Each prefecture has a ‘sekishodera’, a temple considered the most difficult to access in the days when pilgrims only walked. Kōnomine-ji is the sekishodera of Kōchi. All this said, it isn’t difficult for an averagely fit person to walk up from the coast to the temple.

Behind Kōnomine-ji is beautiful Kōnomine Shrine and above that is an observation deck offering remarkable views over a quarter of Shikoku. It’s well worth the climb.