There's not much I could find on the history of this temple other than it is of the Shingon sect of Buddhism in the town of Nishiarai Daishi in northern Tokyo, and is considered one of the great temples of the Kanto area.

For the casual: 6. For the educated: 4.

The only real drawback for Sojiji is its location. Just far enough north by subway and elevated train, it is a little far to get to. Once there, the town and the temple really stand out. The temple is huge and the gardens surrounding it are really beautiful to walk through. My friend and I were there towards the end of the day so it was fairly quiet, but it was still a great place to visit and the monks were very very nice.