Zenyoji Temple

Zenyoji is a Shingon Buddhist temple standing beside the Tama River along the wooded Kokubunji escarpment. It belongs to the Chisan school of Shingon and is a branch temple of Chishakuin in Kyoto. Its full formal name is Yokosan Bussho-in Daibirushana-den Zenyomitsuji, and its principal image is a seated figure of Dainichi Nyorai.

The temple is best known for the great kaya (Japanese nutmeg-yew) that grows in front of the main hall. Said to be between 700 and 800 years old, it was designated a Natural Monument of Tokyo in 1964, and the tree itself is regarded as one of the finest sights of the area.

One of the temple's distinctive features is a pair of seated kaida — mythical beasts believed to protect against fire, and said to be among only a handful of such statues in the world. The main hall is modelled on the golden hall of Toshodaiji in Nara, with a hip roof crowned by a pair of ornamental shibi. In front of it, the great kaya carries a local legend of a chieftain's daughter who rescued a pair of freshwater crabs and was repaid for her kindness, and stone figures of crabs, frogs, and a kappa stand nearby.