The Best of Kyoto

The Honden, or main hall, of Fushimi Inari Taisha is recognized by its vibrant vermillion-red wood and a sprawling roof built in the nagare-zukuri style, where one side of the eaves extends further than the other. Designated as an…

The most striking feature of Sanjūsangendō is the sheer length of its main hall. Measuring one hundred and twenty meters from end to end, this wooden structure is the longest of its kind in Japan. Its name, Sanjūsangendō, literally…

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…

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…

Nanzen-ji is defined by its massive Sanmon Gate, a two-story wooden structure that rises twenty-two meters above the grounds. As the head temple of its branch of the Rinzai Zen sect, the complex sits at the base of the Higashiyama…

Ginkaku-ji is identifiable by its two-story wooden pavilion, which sits against the wooded eastern hills of Kyoto with a dark, weathered finish. Officially named Jisho-ji, this site was built in fourteen eighty-two as a private retirement…

Nijō Castle is defined by its massive stone walls and wide defensive moats, which encircle the grounds and protect the ornate palaces inside. Built in sixteen oh three by the first Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, the site functioned as a…

Kinkaku-ji, officially named Rokuon-ji, features a central pavilion with two upper stories coated in shimmering gold leaf. The structure originated in thirteen ninety-seven as a retirement villa for the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.…

Tenryu-ji stands in the Arashiyama district as a sprawling Zen complex defined by its fourteenth-century landscape garden, which retains its original design despite the repeated fires that have leveled the temple buildings over the…