Shozoin Temple

Shozoin is one of four surviving temple halls at Yamadera, the mountain temple complex in Yamagata where monks trained across 12 buildings until the Edo period. Inside are images of Amida Nyorai and Bishamonten, one of Buddhism's Four Heavenly Kings. The Amida statue is attributed to Ennin, Yamadera's 9th-century founder, while the Bishamonten is credited to Unkei, one of the most accomplished Buddhist sculptors of the 12th to 13th century. The temple also holds a mortuary tablet for Yoshihime, mother of Date Masamune, the powerful Tohoku warlord who founded nearby Sendai.