Kôyasan is home to an active monastic center founded twelve centuries ago by the priest Kûkai (posthumously known as Kôbô Daishi) for the study and practice of Esoteric Buddhism. It is the headquarters of the Kôyasan sect of Shingon Buddhism, a faith with a wide following throughout Japan.  Situated on a small plain at the [...]

Ryōan-ji (Shinjitai: 竜安寺, Kyūjitai: 龍安寺, The Temple of the Peaceful Dragon) is a Zen temple located in northwest Kyoto, Japan. Belonging to the Myoshin-ji school of the Rinzai branch of Zen Buddhism, the temple is one of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto. The site of the temple was originally a Fujiwara family estate. It [...]

Yasaka Shrine is commonly known as “Gion-san,” and its festival, “Gion-Matsuri,” is well-known and popular throughout Japan.1. Sairo-monFirst, your eyes will be caught by a big, splendid, vermilion, lacquered gate.  It’s called “Sairo-mon” in Japanese; also some people call it “Goryu-mon.”  During the War of Onin (1467-77), the first gate was burned down.  This gate, [...]

The Shiten’no-ji Temple was built late in the 6th century by Shotoku-taishi (Prince Shotoku), a son of Emperor Yomei, as a token of his gratitude to the Four Devas (Shi-tenno), the guardians for Buddhism and Buddhists, for responding to his prayer to let him overthrow Mononobe-no-Moriya, an anti-Buddhist administrator, in the 6th century. With its [...]

Mt.Koya Mt. Koya (two hours from Osaka by train) is an important religious centre located on a 3,000-foot-high tableland. Surrounded by thick forests and peaks, it contains more than 2,000 temples, shrines, towers, and assembly buildings, 117 major temples, and 53 monasteries which offer lodging and vegetarian meals at a reasonable price to visitors. Mt. [...]