Yakuōji, temple number 23 on the Shikoku pilgrimage circuit, sits on a hill overlooking Hiwasa and the Pacific. It is one of Japan's four temples dedicated to averting bad luck — pilgrims come specifically to ward off misfortune at unlucky ages, placing a coin on each of the stone steps as they climb. The steps themselves are a sight: women climb 33, men climb 42, each figure corresponding to a traditionally unlucky year.
The temple is arranged across two levels. The lower courtyard has a small carp pond and a large bronze bell that visitors strike for good health. A small fee lets you descend into the pitch-dark tunnel beneath the main hall — you grope through blackness as a metaphor for the unknowable span of life, emerging into a lit room with illustrated scrolls depicting the stages of existence from birth to death. The upper level has a distinctive orange five-storey pagoda with views down over the town and out to the Pacific horizon.
White-clad henro (pilgrims) completing the full 88-temple circuit pass through Hiwasa year-round. If you are spending the night, seeing them set off in the early morning with their staffs and conical hats is one of the more quietly memorable sights on the Shikoku coast.