Hokkesan Ichijō-ji (法華山一乗寺) is a Buddhist temple of the Tendai sect in Kasai, Hyōgo, Japan.

It was first established in 650 at Emperor Kōtoku's request, and the temple complex and buildings have undergone several periods of destruction and reconstruction since its founding, with most of its present structures dating to the 16-17th century.

It is famous for its Heian period three-storied pagoda, built in 1171 in the wayō style of Japanese architecture and designated a National Treasure of Japan.

Other important building in the temple complex include the kondō (main hall), built in 1628 by order of Honda Tadamasa, the lord of Himeji Castle, and three other smaller structures, Gohōdō, Myokendō and Bentendō, and a gorintō, all of them built between the Kamakura and Muromachi periods and designated Important Cultural Properties.

When the Emperor regained his health, the priest earned his trust, and had him establish several buddhist temples in the Hyogo prefecture, including the previous stop in the Kansai Kannon Pilgrimage, Kiyomizu-dera.

[1] The datation of other surviving structures at Ichijō-ji, including the Gohōdō (1275-1332), gorintō (1321), Bentendō (1393-1466) and Myokendō (1467-1572) show the temple's continuous growth during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods.

In the Shōwa period, the pagoda was promoted to the category of National Treasure in 1952 under the new 1951 Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties.

The original pagoda was destroyed during the conflicts leading to the Genpei War, and rebuilt soon after using donations collected by the wandering kanjin priest, as imperial patronage of Ichijō-ji had ended with the rise of the new military ruling class.

[5] Inside the pagoda there is a central pole standing up to the third floor, symbolic of Mount Sumeru, the center of the universe in the Buddhist cosmology.

Bentendō are temples or shrines dedicated to Benten or Benzaiten, the syncretic goddess of wealth, happiness, wisdom and music in Shinto and japanese Buddhism.