Kawasaki Daishi Heikenji Temple 川崎大師（平間寺）

Kawasaki Daishi Heikenji Temple, better known as Kawasaki Daishi, is a Buddhist complex that looks like it has been pulled straight out of a painting.

The temple is easily accessible from Kawasaki via train.

Catch the Keikyu Daishi Line at Keikyu Kawasaki Station and get off at Kawasaki Daishi Station. The trip from here is five minutes by foot. Kawasaki-Daishi Station is about 15 minutes from Yokohama Station on the Keikyu Main Line and Keikyu Daishi Line, and 20 or so minutes from Shinagawa Station in Tokyo on the same two lines.

Kawasaki Daishi is the head temple for the Chisan sect of Shingon Buddhism, one of the few remaining forms of Tantric Buddhism in Japan. The large temple complex is nearly 900 years old. In the main hall there is a statue of Kukai, the founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, who lived several centuries ago.

. A sacred image of Kukai is kept in the large main hall.

The Sutra Hall is worth a visit to see more than 7,000 volumes of hand-printed Buddhist sutras and gorgeous religious paintings.

An especially photo-worthy structure is the brightly painted octagonal pagoda. Most pagodas in Japan have only four sides; thus, this one is an oddity.

Kawasaki Daishi is a popular destination for Japanese people making their hatsumode, or first visit of the year, to a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple. Many people visit Kawasaki Daishi during the Japanese New Year holidays.

Nakamise, a street leading up to the temple, has several restaurants and gift shops where you can find adorable daruma dolls, which are a symbol of good fortune and tenacity in Japan.