Cherished Legend·Rakuchū / Nishijin

Shonen-ji (the Cat Temple)

This Jōdo-sect temple in Nishijin is said to have been founded in 1606 by Matsudaira Nobuyoshi, keeper of Fushimi Castle, as his family's mortuary temple. By one telling, the third abbot so doted on cats that the temple nearly fell to ruin and he fell out with the Matsudaira—until a cat's spirit spoke through a dying princess, asking that her rites be held here, and the temple was restored (accounts vary). The old pine before the main hall, shaped like a resting cat, is still called the "cat pine."

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These notes come from desk research. Local traditions vary.