Five-storey pagoda
Kyoto's symbol.
Unknown — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Zairon — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Unknown — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Nekosuki — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Daderot — CC0 · MomoyamaResearch — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kakidai — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zairon — CC BY-SA 4.0
A Shingon Buddhist temple south of Kyoto Station, its name meaning «East Temple», founded in 796, two years after the capital moved to Kyoto, and one of only three Buddhist temples allowed in the city at the time. It is one of the «Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto» inscribed by UNESCO in 1994. Its best-known feature is the five-storey wooden pagoda, 54.8 metres high and the tallest wooden tower in Japan and a symbol of Kyoto that travellers see from the train as they arrive. Five of its buildings are National Treasures, among them the Golden Hall (Kondō), the Miei Hall, the Lotus Flower Gate and the pagoda. The Golden Hall and the Lecture Hall hold ancient Buddhist statues, a garden and pond surround the pagoda, and a big flea market fills the grounds on the 21st of every month, per visitor guides. The grounds are open; entry to the halls and garden is about 500 yen, 8:00-17:00, per visitor guides. It is about a 15-minute walk from Kyoto Station.
Kyoto's symbol.
A National Treasure.
Every month.
South of Kyoto Station, Minami ward
Its five-storey wooden pagoda, the tallest wooden tower in Japan, its ancient halls that are National Treasures, and the flea market on the 21st of every month.