An historic temple in Osaka is “changing clothes” and will soon be housed within a high-rise hotel. On December 14, the hotel owner’s spokesperson released the project’s perspective.
Located in the Chuo district of Osaka, Mitsutera Temple has been a part of the city’s landscape since its construction in 744, during the Nara period. Belonging to the Omuro school of the Shingon sect (Japanese Tantra), the temple worships the Ten One-Faced Guanyin.
The current edifice of the temple was completed in 1808 and thankfully spared devastation from the US air raid on Osaka in 1945.
It is expected that the Candeo Osaka Shinsaibashi hotel, built on the property of the temple, will be inaugurated on November 26, 2023, with 15 floors and 3 basements. In addition to the 180 guest rooms located on the 4th floor and above, the hotel is also equipped with a spa with a sauna and an outdoor swimming pool on the top floor.
The main hall of the temple fits into the first three floors of the hotel, creating an unparalleled sight on Osaka’s Mido-suji Avenue. Guests of Candeo Osaka Shinsaibashi will enter the hotel through the temple’s main hall.
Many of the temple’s rituals, such as morning chanting, meditation, and Buddha painting, are available to guests who stay here.
“There is a lot of rivalry in the hotel sector,” Teruaki Hozumi, Chairman of Candeo Hotel Investor, cried, “but I want to introduce religious experiences like temples to leave a mark for the hotel.”
To preserve the temple, the entire structure was elevated and relocated during preliminary work in 2020 and 2021.
Concerned about the placement of the hotel “encompassing” the precious temple, Tetsuro Kaga, Abbot of Mitsutera Temple, shared: “Because the temple is still intact, the roof will become “結界 – Kekkai,” the boundary between spirituality and the mundane world.
The truth is that by staying in an area where the Buddha statue is located, I think the visitors’ stay at the hotel will become more peaceful.
The abbot further added: “This will be an opportunity for Buddhists to improve their faith and deliver wonderful experiences to locals and tourists near and far.”
