Hino-misaki / Dojo-ji Temple日ノ岬・道成寺

Cape Hino-misaki, a vista of the Pacific Ocean. Dojo-ji, the oldest temple in Wakayama dating back to the early 8th century.

Hino-misaki is a cape in the western part of the Kii-hanto Peninsula. The Shirama-sanmyaku Mountain Range ends in the ocean-facing cliffs of Mt. Hino-yama. The area around the lighthouse at the cape is Hino-misaki Park, with promenades as well as a view spot at an elevation of 200 meters overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The beautiful pinewoods of Enju-ga-hama Beach are 500 meters wide and extend for 6 kilometers. In the early 20th century, people who have immigrated to Canada or America, and those who returned to Japan built houses in a Western style, painted white or having a tiled roof with stucco. This exotic village is called America-mura, or American Village.

Dojo-ji Temple is located in the northeast of Cape Hino-misaki and is the oldest temple in Wakayama, erected by the Emperor of that time in the early 8th century. The red-painted Nio-mon Gate, and the Hon-do, or Oratory, and many cultural properties are owned by the temple, such as the wooden sculpture of Senju-kan'non, or thousand armed Goddess of Mercy (Avaloketeshvara), a national treasure; Nikko and Gakko Bosatsu, or Boddhisatva of Sunlight and Moonlight; two Bishamonten or Vaishravana; Shi-ten'no (the four Devas) and two volumes of Dojo-ji-engi, a scroll picture in the 14th century.