Goshoin number two is from the 大本願* (Daihongan), a temple in the Zenkōji complex.

I’ll be honest, I mostly got this stamp because I saw a sign saying they offered them. I knew nothing of the temple or its importance. However, while I was waiting for my stamp to be completed (there was a line at this temple), I went to a nearby stall where they were selling protective charms. A nice lady there gave me some pamphlets about this temple in English!

Oh. My. GOSH!!! This temple is awesome! Turns out it is a Buddhist nunnery, which, according to the pamphlet, is “the only large-scale nunnery in Japan.” Not only that, but the 117th Chief Priestess single handedly saved Zenkōji from total abandonment during Japan’s anti-Buddhist movement in the mid-late 1800s. Who knew?!

Date received: August 18th, 2017

* I am aware that the link I attached to the Daihongan does not, in fact, take you to the Daihongan. It takes you instead to the Daikanjin, a bigger and apparently more important temple that is located right next to the Daihongan (which does not get a label). I included the link so you can see its proximity to Zenkōji.