Inside the main hall are splendid status of the bodhisattva Kannon, most of them of the thirteenth century.
One, the curious "horse-headed" Kannon, stands five metres tall.
The head does not much resemble a horse's, but its glaring eyes and demonic features contrast markedly with the serenely composed faces of the other statues of the same deity.
There is only one other building at the Kanzeon-ji, the Amida Hall.
It contains statues of Amida Buddha and of the Four Guardian Kings, each carved from a single log of camphor wood.
The oldest of the statues, carved in the tenth century, depicts the powerfuly built Guardian King Bishamonten.
His feet and his curving belt extends down to the grotesque head of a lovable little monster.
These Guardian Kings always stand on such creatures, meant to symbolize the forces of ignorance and evil which they have subdued.