Sekizan-gu
Before Ennin (794–864) travelled to Tang China in 838 in order to absorb Buddhist culture, he asked the god of Sekizan for protection. He vowed that in return he would build a Zen temple and spread Buddhism in Japan. After Ennin returned safely back to Japan after nine years in China, he enshrined the Sekizan deity at Yokawa, but he died before he could build the temple. Annen (794–868?) and other disciples of Ennin built the Sekizan Zen Temple at the foot of Mount Hiei in 888, in fulfilment of Ennin’s vow. Later, following the lead of Ennin, the monks of Yokawa built a new shrine for the deity of Sekizan as a guardian shrine of the Nyoho-do, which later became the Sekizan “Red Mountain” Temple.
Prayers are said at Sekizan-gu for a long life, the purging of misfortune, and the purging of ill fortune arising from unlucky directions.