Higashi Honganji Temple, Kyoto

Higashi Honganji Temple is located in Karasuma Rokujo, near Kyoto Station. Officially called "Shinshu Hongyo", Higashi Honganji Temple is the head temple of the Otani sect of Shinshu Buddhism, built in the 7th year of Keichō era (1602) on land donated by Tokugawa Ieyasu to Kyōnyo Shonin.

The Mieido, which enshrines the image of Shinran Shonin, the founder of the Jodo Shin sect of Buddhism, is the largest wooden building in the world, 76 meters long in the front, 58 meters long on the sides, 38 meters high, and with 927 tatami mats inside. The Amida Hall, which stands to the south of the Mieido, houses the principal image of Amida Nyorai, and even the ceiling and pillars inside the hall are painted in gold to represent the world of "Amitabha Sutra”. The Mikado Gate, said to be the tallest double wooden gate in Japan, is one of the most valuable structures in the temple, and six buildings, including the Mieido, are designated as National Important Cultural Properties of Japan.

In Higashi Tamamizu-cho, a short distance from the temple grounds, is the “Shosei-en garden”, a garden spreading over an area of about 10,000 tsubo (about 1,000 square meters) donated by Tokugawa Iemitsu. The beautiful garden, which has been designated as a national place of scenic beauty, is filled with flowers from season to season and is known as one of the "thirteen scenic spots”.