Gikyoji Kannondo

ADDRESS: Ienoue, minmaya, higashitsugaru-gun, Aomori-prefecture

One of the 88 sacred sites in Tsugaru. A place where Minamoto no Yoshitsune’s northern legend remains. Yoshitsune escaped from his brother Minamoto no Yoritomo and headed for Ezo (Hokkaido), but was unable to advance through the raging Tsugaru Strait. When he prayed to the Kannon statue he had for three days and three nights, a white-haired old man appeared in his dream and gave him three horses. When he wakes up, he finds three horses tied to a rock and the sea calm. This strangely shaped rock is called Umaya-ishi, and you can actually see it when you go down the stairs of Gikei-ji Temple.