🛕 Temples in Kyoto

Chion-in

Monumental Head Temple of Pure Land Buddhism

The head temple of Jodo (Pure Land) Buddhism, featuring Japan's largest temple gate at 24 meters ...

Nanzen-ji

Nanzen-ji Temple

Highest-ranked Rinzai Zen temple in Kyoto. The 22-meter sanmon gate has city views from the top. ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

Jakko-in

The Nunnery Where the Heike Story Ends

The small Ohara nunnery where Kenreimon-in retired after the Heike were destroyed at Dannoura. Th...

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...

Kozan-ji

A World Heritage Temple in a Cedar Forest, Home of the Frolicking Animals

A UNESCO World Heritage temple in the cedars at Toganoo, revived by the monk Myoe in 1206, known ...