Higashi Hongan-ji

Higashi Hongan-ji is one of the two great head temples of the Jodo Shinshu school of Pure Land Buddhism, standing near Kyoto Station. Its immense wooden Founder's Hall ranks among the largest timber structures in the world, its cavernous interior lined with tatami and gilded fittings. The current buildings date from a late nineteenth-century rebuild after repeated fires, and ropes woven partly from donated hair recall that effort. Entry is free, and the vast quiet halls offer respite steps from the busy station.