Rinnoji Temple is the generic name of the Tendai sect temples on Mount Nikko in Nikko City, Tochigi Pref. The principal images are two sets of three images of Buddha; Nikko Sanja Gongen Honjibutsu, which is composed of three wooden statues of Senju Kannon, Amida Nyorai and Bato Kannon, and Tosho Sanja Gongen Honjibutsu, which is a wall hanging Buddha images of Yakushi Nyorai, Amida Nyorai and Shaka Nyorai.
History of Rinnoji Temple dates back to the end of Nara period (710-794), when Priest Shodo built a temple in Mount Nikko. During the Edo period, the temple was flourished as a guardian temple of Toshogu Shrine dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate. However, as Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines were separated by the law in the Meiji period, a lot of temples on Mount Nikko were merged to Rinnoji, and since then a framework of two shrines (Toshogu and Futarasan Shrine) and one temple was established (Rinnoji). Rinnoji Temple is Nikko’s most important temple with a long history and close connection with the Tokugawa family.