Kōdaiji Temple

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 integrated into the hillside. The temple was established in sixteen oh six by Nene, a woman of high rank who took the Buddhist name Kōdai-in after the death of her husband, the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi.