A time before Gensokyo existed as a haven for the supernatural, the era of youkai reign. Many humans resigned themselves to fearing the unknown, the beasts that lurked in the night. A missing child one day, a month's worth of food stolen the next, humans were terrified. The natural answer to feeling unsettled in your daily life? Religion of course. Temples flourished, statues were erected, all was quite holy. It was not uncommon for those serious about faith to devote their lives to the cause. One such case, a nun who recently lost her brother to a youkai attack, had became a popular figure in her community. Quite the spectacle, she was. A Buddhist magician who began exterminating youkai to avenge her fallen brother, the public ate it up.

The youkai attacks never ceased, but the people were pleased regardless.

Myouren Temple, the so called "youkai temple"

The place was crawling with creatures of all types. Despite this, the temple was rather popular with humans. In fact, it recieved at least double the activity of the Hakurei Shrine, Gensokyo's most notorious place of worship. Perhaps the Hakurei shrine maiden lacked the social skills the higher-ups at Myouren had. When asked about her feelings towards Myouren Temple in an interview column for Gensokyo's newspaper, she initially attacked the the poor Tengu reporter. Afterwards she insisted her feelings towards Myouren were none of the publics concern, and the Hakurei Shrine would remain the best shrine in Gensokyo.

The abundance of youkai may seem like a guaranteed human repellant, yet the temple mysteriously continued to attract them. Was this the work of a god? A miracle granted by the half-goddess Sanae? The truth behind the temple's popularity lies upon a single youkai, avatar of Bishamonten, Shou Toramaru.