Higashiyama Historic Walk

Kiyomizu-dera, or Temple of the Pure Water, is recognizable for its massive wooden stage that juts out over a steep hillside, supported by one hundred and thirty-nine towering pillars. Built without the use of a single nail, this structure…

The Yasaka Pagoda rises forty-six meters above the surrounding wooden row houses, its five tiers of dark, weathered wood and heavy tiled roofs standing as a vertical anchor in the Higashiyama district. Known formally as Hōkan-ji, this…

Kōdai-ji Temple is defined by its ornate, gilded lacquerwork, a technique so distinctive that the site is often called the maki-e temple. This Zen Buddhist complex sits at the foot of the Higashiyama Mountains, its structures and gardens…

Yasaka Shrine is easily recognized by its bright vermilion entrance gate that anchors the eastern end of Shijo Street. This site is the headquarters for over two thousand shrines across Japan dedicated to the deity Susanoo-no-Mikoto. While…

Maruyama Park is defined by a towering weeping cherry tree that stands on a low, fenced-in rise at the heart of the grounds. Known as the Gion weeping cherry, or the Gion night sakura, this tree is the second generation to occupy this…

The massive Sanmon Gate defines the entrance to Chion-in, standing twenty-four meters tall and fifty meters wide. As the largest wooden temple gate in Japan, this two-story structure was completed in sixteen nineteen and serves as a formal…

Massive camphor trees over eight hundred years old stand at the entrance of Shōrenin Temple, marking the grounds as you approach from the street. This Tendai sect temple in the Higashiyama district holds the status of a monzeki temple,…