Tenshōzan Renge-in Kōmyō-ji (天照山蓮華院光明寺) is a Buddhist temple of the Jōdo sect in Zaimokuza, near Kamakura, Japan, the only major one in the city to be close to the sea.

Kōmyō-ji is number one among the Kantō Jūhachi Danrin (関東十八檀林), a group of 18 Jōdo temples established during the Edo period by Tokugawa Ieyasu, and dedicated to both the training of priests and scholarly research.

[3] It was chosen for that role by the Naitō clan, feudal lords from today's Miyazaki Prefecture whose tombs are part of the temple's compound.

[3] The temple, besides the usual Buddhist cemetery, maintains a special crypt for the ashes of house pets and other animals, and twice a year holds in the Main Hall ceremonies in their memory.

According to this version of events, it was originally built in 1240 in the Sasukegayatsu Valley near Jufuku-ji[5] for famous Buddhist priest Nenna :ja:Ryōchū (also known by his posthumous name Kishu Zenji).

[2] Kōmyō-ji was later sponsored by Hōjō Tokiyori and other Kamakura regents, acquiring a complete seven-building temple compound (七堂伽藍, shichidō garan) and becoming a center of Amidist devotion in the Kantō region.

[2] When Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1547 created the Kantō Jūhachi Danrin (関東十八檀林) group of temples, he dedicated it to the training of priests and scholarship, and put Kōmyō-ji at its top.

[1] The characters Tenshōzan (天照山, Mountain of Divine Enlightenment) on the gable under the Sanmon were written by Emperor Go-Hanazono himself in 1436 and sent to the temple as a present.

[1] The remaining five stones represent Shakyamuni and four priests who contributed to the diffusion of Buddhism: Zendō, Hōnen, Benchō, and the temple's own Ryōchū.

[4] The ashes are laid to rest on the 10th day of every month after the chanting of sūtras, and are often accompanied by a sotōba (a wooden stupa), carrying the pet's name.

[11] Because the event attracts so many people, during those days the temple's compound is full of stands, selling mostly potted plants, but also food and drinks.