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At the north side of Sanmon stands Shorei-in, the sub-temple for Priest Zen'eki Shukuetsu {zen-a-key shoo-koo-eh-tsu} who was the 150th chief priest and passed away in 1535. Here is enshrined a 25-centimeter-tall sedentary statue of Amida Nyorai or Amitabha in Skt., carved in the Edo Period. Also placed inside the house are statues of Priest Sono Daisetsu {so-noh dye-seh-tsu}, the 40th chief priest and Priest Zensai Kibun {zen-sigh key-boon}, the 154th chief priest. Behind the wooden house is a graveyard on the hill, where celebrities' ashes are buried. Among them are; Kinuyo Tanaka {key-noo-yo tah-nah-kah} (1909-1977), a famous actress and movie star in the '40s, '50s and '60s, and Takeshi Kaiko {tah-keh-she kye-koh} (1930-1989), an author, and Tsutsumi Sakamoto (tsu-tsu-me sah-kah-moh-toh}, a lawyer who was murdered together with his wife and a baby in November 1989 by members of an occult group called Aum, which spread deadly gas on the Tokyo subway in March 1995. Peony and other flowers are beautiful in this sub-temple, but open to the visitors only from the second Saturday of September through November 30 except for autumn equinox days.
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