Narita - Naritasan-Shinshoji Temple

The Naritasan-Shinshoji Temple is dedicated to the light god Fudo and was founded in 939, during a rising instigated by Taira Masakado in the area of the present day prefectures of Chiba and Ibakari. The Emperor Sujaku had the statue of Fudo in the Jingoji Temple at Kyoto brought to Kozugahara (to the west of the Shinshoji) in order to secure the god's help in defeating the rebels. When the rebellion came to an end in 940 with the death of Masakado, a temple was built in Kozugahara to house the statue, and in 1705 this was moved to its present site.

The most notable features within the 50ac of the temple precinct are the Niomon Gate, the Hall of the Three Saints, the Buddha Hall, the Hondo (Main Hall, built 1963-68 in traditional style), a belltower and a three story pagoda. The temple attracts particularly large numbers of worshippers at New Year and the Setsubun festival (beginning of February).