Here you can see the flame that has been continuously burning for 1,200 years. Until just recently, this has been maintained by a family burning firewood in their stove, but now it will be done by Myokoan.
If the Chief Priest is around, he will show you the flame he works so hard to maintain, and he might even share some stories with you.

“I add oil to the flame every day, but if we’re not careful it will go out. We cannot think, ‘Oh, someone else will take care of it,’ because then we are not doing our best to protect the flame. We don’t have any ‘rules’ for who checks the flame and when. Rather, we all take responsibility to make sure that the flame is not cut off from the oil. They say that’s where the word Japanese word for “negligence” comes from (油断(Yudan)= 油(yu) ”oil” + 断(dan) “sever.”)

They say that now that the Buddha's teachings are dying, Myokoan is tasked to continue more than the flame. The chief priest strives to maintain “The teachings of Saichō,” meaning the flame in our hearts.