Sugimoto-dera Temple

is a Buddhist temple located in the city of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The temple's full name is Taizō-zan Kannon-in Sugimoto-dera (大蔵山観音院杉本寺). It is one of the oldest temples in Kamakura and, together with Hōkai-ji, the only one of the Tendai denomination. The temple is Number one of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho pilgrimage circuit. Two of the three statues of Jūichimen Kannon Bosatsu it enshrines are Important Cultural Properties. Sugimoto-dera is nicknamed Geba Kannon ("Dismount Kannon"), because horsemen never failed to dismount from their steeds when they passed by. (According to a different version of the legend, non-believers always fall from their horse when passing in front of the temple.) The temple is a of Hōkai-ji.

==Overview== The temple’s legend states that in the 8th century Gyōki (668–749) was crossing the Kantō region when he saw Kamakura from Mount Taizō (the Taizōzan in the temple's name) and decided to leave there a statue of the bodhisattva Kannon. He then carved and enshrined it himself. Later in 734, Emperor Shōmu was told by the bodhisvatta herself to build here a temple (the Hondō).The emperor ordered his minister, the Sadaijin Fujiwara no Fusasaki (681 – 737) to fulfill this order.