Sanzen-in

Sanzen-in sits at the top of Ohara's stone-walled approach lane, a valley of farmhouses and shiso fields about an hour north of central Kyoto by bus. It is one of the three Tendai monzeki temples, historically headed by a member of the imperial family, and it moved to this site in 1871 after the Meiji Restoration. The building most people come for is Ojo Gokuraku-in, a small hall of the late 12th century that holds a National Treasure Amida triad carved in 1148. The two attendant bodhisattvas kneel rather than stand, which is rare in Japanese Buddhist sculpture and reads as though they are leaning forward to receive someone. Outside, the moss gardens are scattered with warabe-jizo, small child-like stone figures carved by Sugimura Takashi that sit half-swallowed by the moss and are easy to walk straight past. Ohara sees a fraction of the visitors that Arashiyama does, and outside the November foliage weeks you can often hear nothing but water in the garden channels.