Probably founded by Prince Shôtoku (574/592-622) in honour of the shitennô, the “Four Heavenly Kings”, towards the end of the 6th century – in the Asuka period – in Naniwa, what is now Ôsaka. Although most of the buildings now date from the 1960s, the temple is one of the first Buddhist complexes built in Japan. The name of the district Tennôji-ku, where Shitennô-ji is located, was borrowed from the same.
other temples
