Anraku-ji
Anraku-ji, the Thatched-Gate Temple That Opens Only in Season
A small Pure Land temple behind a thatched gate, a few minutes off the Philosopher's Path, founde...
Saihoji (Kokedera)
The Moss Temple Requiring Advance Reservation
A World Heritage Zen temple blanketed in over 120 varieties of moss, creating an ethereal green l...
Ninna-ji
Imperial Palace Temple with Late-Blooming Cherry Blossoms
A World Heritage Site and former imperial palace temple, famed for its late-blooming Omuro cherry...
Kurama-dera
A Mountain Temple of Mystical Energy and Ancient Forests
A powerful mountain temple said to be where Yoshitsune trained as a child. The forested trail con...
Nanzen-ji
Nanzen-ji Temple
Highest-ranked Rinzai Zen temple in Kyoto. The 22-meter sanmon gate has city views from the top. ...
Gio-ji
A Tiny Moss-Carpeted Temple Steeped in Tragic Romance
A small thatched-roof temple blanketed in luminous green moss, linked to a tragic love story from...
Seiryo-ji
The Living Buddha of Saga and Its Hidden Treasures
Houses the 'Living Buddha' statue brought from China in 987, a wooden Shaka Nyorai said to replic...
Tofuku-ji
Kyoto's Supreme Autumn Foliage Temple
One of Kyoto's Five Great Zen Temples. Best autumn foliage in the city. The view from Tsutenkyo B...
Daigo-ji
Hideyoshi's Cherry Blossom Temple on the Mountainside
A sprawling World Heritage Site famous for Toyotomi Hideyoshi's legendary 1598 cherry blossom vie...
Jojakko-ji
A Hillside Temple Famous for Its Fiery Autumn Foliage
Hillside temple in Sagano, best in autumn. The pagoda surrounded by red and orange maples is the ...
Kodai-ji
Nene's Temple for Hideyoshi, With Gold Lacquer and Lit Autumn Nights
The Zen temple Toyotomi Hideyoshi's widow Nene founded in 1606 to pray for him, with her tomb und...
Adashino Nenbutsu-ji
Eight Thousand Nameless Stones at the End of the Sagano Road
Around 8,000 stone buddhas and pagodas gathered from Adashino, a burial ground since the Heian pe...
Sanzen-in
Ohara's Moss Garden and Its Small Hidden Jizo
A Tendai monzeki temple in the Ohara valley, an hour north of the city, where moss gardens hide s...
Jingo-ji
Four Hundred Steps Above the Kiyotaki Gorge
A mountain temple of 824 above the Kiyotaki gorge, reached by about 400 stone steps, where visito...
Honno-ji
The Temple Where Nobunaga Died, Rebuilt Ten Years Later Across Town
The Nichiren-school temple linked to Oda Nobunaga's death in 1582, rebuilt on Teramachi-dori in 1...