耕三寺（こうさんじ）は、広島県尾道市の生口島・瀬戸田にある私寺で、正式名称を「耕三寺博物館」という。実業家・金本耕三が、母への報恩感謝の思いから1936年に建立した寺院で、日本各地の名建築を模して造られた壮麗な伽藍が特徴である。日光東照宮の陽明門を思わせる孝養門、平等院鳳凰堂を模した本堂、法隆寺夢殿を想起させる建物などが一堂に会し、極彩色の装飾と相まって独特の景観をつくり出している。境内には大理石で造られた「未来心の丘」があり、白一色の彫刻群と瀬戸内海の眺望が現世と異界をつなぐような印象を与える。また、寺宝館には仏教美術や近代日本画、彫刻などが収蔵され、宗教施設であると同時に美術館としての側面も持つ。耕三寺は信仰、芸術、観光が交差する、生口島を代表する文化的存在である。
Kōsan-ji is a privately founded Buddhist temple located in Setoda on Ikuchijima Island, Onomichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture. Officially known as the Kōsan-ji Museum, it was established in 1936 by the businessman Kōzō Kanemoto as an expression of gratitude and filial devotion to his mother. The temple complex is distinguished by its magnificent buildings, which are modeled after famous religious architecture from across Japan. These include the Kōyōmon Gate, reminiscent of the Yōmeimon Gate at Nikkō Tōshō-gū; the main hall inspired by the Phoenix Hall of Byōdō-in; and structures evoking Hōryū-ji’s Yumedono. Together with their vivid, polychromatic decoration, they create a striking and unconventional landscape.
Within the grounds stands the “Hill of Hope” (Miraishin no Oka), a vast marble sculpture garden whose pure white forms contrast beautifully with the blue of the Seto Inland Sea, giving visitors the sense of stepping into a world beyond the everyday. The museum buildings house collections of Buddhist art, modern Japanese paintings, and sculptures, highlighting the site’s role not only as a place of worship but also as an art museum. Kōsan-ji thus represents a unique cultural landmark of Ikuchijima, where faith, art, and tourism converge.
