Ki-mii-dera Temple

Established in 770, this is the ancient No. 2 temple along the pilgrimage of the Saigoku-Sanjūsansho (33 temples in the Kinki region). The 500 cherry trees within the temple grounds go into bloom earlier than anywhere else so that the temple has been called “the temple that beckons spring to the Kinki region”. Inside the new Buddha Hall is enshrined Japan’s largest gold-leafed Thousand-Armed Kannon with a height of 11m. At the top of the 231 steps leading to the temple, the view of Wakanoura Bay is stunning.