Hiraizumi – Temples, Gardens and Archaeological Sites Representing the Buddhist Pure Land

In the 11th and 12th centuries the Fujiwara lords of northern Japan built Hiraizumi as heaven on earth — gardens and temples laid out to mirror the Buddhist Pure Land, the paradise awaiting believers. The gilded Konjikido hall of Chuson-ji survives from that golden age, when the town rivalled Kyoto, and ponds, ruins and sacred Mount Kinkeisan complete the five-part ensemble. UNESCO inscribed Hiraizumi in 2011 as World Heritage embodying a uniquely Japanese vision of paradise design.