Aizu Sazaedo (Entsu Sansodo)

Sazaedo is a Kannon-do hall located at the midway of Iimori Hill known as the place where the Byakkotai corp had suicided. The official name is Entsu Sansodo. This three-layer Hexagon kannondo hall was built in 1796. It is 16.5m-tall and was built by Ikudo, a priest of Seishuji, a local temple.

This hall’s exterior is quite peculiar, but the interior is even beyond imagination and explains why the hall was named Sazaedo. There is no stair, just clockwise wooden slopes, which you follow up to the top, go across the bridge, and the slope takes you down to the ground. People who go up and people who come down do not cross each other on these double helix one-ways. This architecture really reminds you of a conch shell.

In the Edo Period, Sansodo halls were built nationwide according to Unyo Sanso, a tradition in Buddhism to walk inside a hall clockwise three times as a pilgrimage. Of all the Sansodo that remain to this day, this one is really unique and is now designated as a national important cultural property.