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Four really special temples & shrines in & around Kyoto

Byodo-in Temple on an extra great day!

This blog post or article (vocabulary can be vexing!) introduces a wide range of intersting information and perspectives related to 4 locations in the greater Kyoto area; two (Atago Shrine & Enryakuji Temple) on the highest peaks of the valley; one, Mampukuji Zen temple in Uji City (famous for 11th century Byodoin Temple and tea plantations); and then the mythology behind Kyoto's most popular temple, Kiyomizu Temple. Each as you will see below, have special powers and unique settings. Learn more!

Chinese Zen vegetarian restaurant in Uji SE of Kyoto!

What most people have heard about Japanese Zen Buddhism has come from its two main traditions in Japan: Dogen's Soto sect and Eisai's Rinzai sect. What many don't know, however, is that there is a third sect--Obaku--transmitted to Japan by a Chinese priest in the early seventeenth century.

This sect exerted a powerful influence in the revival of flagging Zen discipline during the Tokugawa (Edo) period. Ingen (1592-1673), as the founder of Obaku Zen is known in Japan, was invited to Japan by the Shogunate and later set up his headguarters in a restored temple outside Kyoto in the town of Uji. Known as Mampuku-ji, this temple is the present-day headquarters of the Obaku sect and oversees about five hundred affiliated temples. The word mampuku in the temple's name means great fortune (literally, "10,000 fortunes"), but there is a homonym for this word in Japanese which also means to have a full stomach. This is an appropriate play on words since no visit to Mampuku-ji would be complete without a meal of fucha ryori, or Chinese-style vegetarian food--either at the temple itself or at one of the restaurants in the immediate neighborhood. The word fucha originally meant "tea for all" and probably referred to the practice of serving tea and a vegetarian meal to those who had come to a service at the Obaku temples in Ming China.

These days, there is both plenty of tea and plenty of food for the visitor to Mampuku-ji or to one of its nearby restaurants such as Haku-un-an. All you have to do to maintain the traditions of Ming China is make a tour of the temple and be sure to make reservations for a meal as well. On a recent trip to Mampuku-ji, my friend and I took a leisurely walk around the spacious temple grounds, visiting such buildings as the Emperor's Hall, the Zazen (Meditation) Hall, and Shakamuni (Main Image) Hall. Although twenty-three of the buildings are designated Important Cultural Properties, Mampuku-ji is not all history.

Each year there are monks in training on the grounds and there are also regular programs of zazen that are open to the public. There is also a major Chinese style festival held here every October in which stalls are set up, a traditional lion dance is held, and a pig is sacrificied in front of one of the halls.

Historically, Mampuku-ji has also been the principle disseminator of a style of tea ceremony known as sencha that utilizes green tea leaves rather than the powdered tea (matcha) used by most tea schools. [See article on facing page.] Consequently, the All Japan Senchado Association is located here and large sencha tea ceremonies are held twice a year. Since we had not made reservations at the temple itself, we headed across the street to Haku-un-an (https://www.hakuunan.com/) for a lunch of fucha cooking.

For those who are used to the extraordinary pleasure of Western-style Chinese cooking, fucha is quite a different fare. It's simpler, more elegant, and less abundant. However, this is not to say that it is not filling or tasty. For ´6,000 we were served three kinds of tea, two kinds of soup, five plates of vegetable, a kind of sesame seed tofu, and rice with tea leaves scattered on top. There is also beer or sake if you want some.

The main dining room has about twenty tables and you sit on tatami while gazing out at the garden. There are also private rooms and teahouses for slightly more money.

If you would like to experience the same kind of cooking at Mampuku-ji, lunch is served daily. To make reservations for a party of at least four (there are also special rooms for ten or more), call 0774-32-3900. Try to call a week ahead. The prices are either Yen 4,000 or Yen 6,000 depending on the size of the meal you order. During the spring and autumn, it is often difficult to make a reservation. Late January to March is less crowded.

And if you are kind of broke or on a tight budget, you can call the temple in the morning or the day before and order a fucha bento (box lunch) for either Yen 2,000 or Yen 2,500, which you can enjoy at the temple.

For the more scholarly-minded, there is a sub-temple nearby called Hozo-in, which houses the 300 year-old Tetsugen Tripitaka--60,000 wood blocks on which is engraved a Chinese version of the entire Buddhist canon. The temple is open every day, 9 am to 4 pm, and you can look at the blocks up close as well as observe printers inking and printing them by hand. It's well worth the five-minute detour!

If you do visit Mampuku-ji don't forget that Uji's most precious asset is Byodoin Temple. This 11th century temple is one of the most famous in Japan, and is pictured on the back of Yen 10 coins. Its Phoenix Hall houses a beautiful image of Amida, the Buddha of Infinite Light, who resides in the Western Paradise. And Uji is also the oldest continuous tea cultivation area in Japan (Shizuoka, west of Tokyo, is second).

To get to Mampuku-ji from central Kyoto take an Uji-bound Keihan Railway local (futsu) from either Sanjo or Shijo station. Get off at Keihan Obaku station (35 minutes later). It's a five-minute walk to the temple through a shopping arcade. Or from Kyoto Station take a Nara-bound JR local and get off (18 minutes later) at Obaku station. Go through the same shopping arcade and you'll see the temple gate in front of you.

Kyoto's Atago "fire protection" Shrine attractions & hiking options

In one lifetime,

Seven times to Grand Ise Shrine

Go we;

To Kumano, three.

But like the moon we go

Once a month to Atago.

---old Japanese song

A good Shinto shrine is very much the spirit of a place, and Atago Shrine, perched atop lofty Mount Atago in the west of Kyoto is no exception. Mother Shrine to more than 800 "Atago" shrines throughout Japan, Atago Shrine was built in 781 by Wake no Kiyomaro at the Emperor's orders to protect the Imperial Court.

The courts of the Nara and Heian Periods were especially prone to religious superstitions and daily life was regulated to conform as closely as possible to propitious times, seasons, and directions. The latter were especially important for it was believed that the directions of the compass had inherent and potent energies. Northeast was the direction from which evil originated and consequently the mighty Enryaku-ji Temple was built atop Mount Hiei to protect the city from the ill winds of that direction. The northwest, however, was considered the source of divine beneficence, and so on the highest mountain in that direction, Atago Shrine was built to function as a portal of blessing. Here the God of Fire was enshrined, and fearful of his wrath, the inhabitants of Kyoto came (and still come) often to pray for deliverance.

In the early Heian Era, the popularity of Buddhism surged and tended to absorb Shintoism. Atago Shrine became part of Haku-un-ji Temple at this time. 1000 years later in Meiji Era an edict forbade the association of shrines and temples, and Atago Shrine regained its independent status.

At the top of Atago-yama, the bustle of modern Kyoto seems far away. The air is pure, and the mountain serene. Architecturally, the shrine is simple, but its simplicity is perfection. The structures that make up the shrine are, after all, not so much for looking at--this is a place for obtaining something sacred. After the strenuous climb to the top of the mountain, one final flight of stairs brings one to the highest ground of the inner sanctuary. Here, grabbing the enormous cloth rope and ringing the bell, one feels, rolling along the spine, a real sense of communication with the life force of the universe. No wonder this shrine, along with those at Ise and Kumano, has long been one of the places the people of Kyoto perpetually turn to in time of prayer!

Kiyomizu Temple: Where the Blue Dragon drinks at dawn

According to legend, this tiny valley on the east side of present-day downtown Kyoto, where Kiyomizu (“pure water”) Temple now stands, was already regarded as sacred before the Heian capital was founded in 794.

One legend says that the priest Enchin had a dream telling him to go to Otowa Waterfall in the area. Here, he met a hermit living in a grass hut who said he had been waiting for Enchin. Enchin is said to have moved into the hut soon afterward, enshrining a statue of Kannon, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy (common to most Buddhist cultures in Asia).

Another legend concerns one of the four mythological creatures that guard Kyoto: Byakko, the white tiger god of the west; Genbu, the snake god of the north; Shujaku, the red sparrow god of the south; and Seiryu, the blue-green dragon god of the east. It is said that Seiryu comes to Kiyomizu in the early dawn hours to drink.

Today, the temple is most closely identified with Kannon, and the main hall contains a magnificent 11-faced, 1,000-armed statue of Kannon. The present main temple, reconstructed in 1633, has been designated a National Treasure. Built on a cliff, the front of the structure is supported on a several-story high supporting structure made of wood. The temple's Joju-in Japanese landscape garden of the early Edo period (1603-1867) is a famous shakkei-en (borrowed scenery garden), though it is not open to the public. In a way, one could say that the entire view from the high verandah of the temple is a vast, somehow timeless borrowed scenery garden.

The temple has long been Kyoto's most popular pilgrimage site and tourist attraction. Indeed, the popularity of the temple during the peaceful Edo period is responsible in part for the development of Kyoto’s tourist industry, which was founded on the popularity of religious pilgrimage. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

The best way to approach and leave the temple is by entering via the crowded, shop-lined road the leads up to the main gate. After touring the grounds, take the steps down to the road that leads parallel to the main approach and follow that road down to Gojo Street.

Kyoto highest peak: The wonders of Mount Hiei & Enryaku-ji

At 848 meters (2,780 feet), Hiei-zan, as it is known in Japanese, dominates the Kyoto landscape. More than just a beautiful form of nature, Hiei-zan has for centuries played a major role in Kyoto’s and Japan’s political and cultural history. It all started over more than 1200 years ago, when a lone priest named Saicho was given imperial permission to build a Tendai sect temple to protect the newly founded capital.

Enryaku-ji, as the temple was called, eventually became Japan’s most important center for Buddhism — a virtual city of priests and temples. The temple’s influence and activities, which extended to punishing military raids on Kyoto power, came to an abrupt and tragic end in 1571. In a bloody assault, Oda Nobunaga, Japan’s first warlord, destroyed the entire mountain complex (there were an estimated 3,000 temples on the mountain top in 16th century) and nearly every one of its 10,000 inhabitants. Rebuilt in part more than a century later, Enryaku-ji remains an awe inspiring and vast example of the esoteric powers of the Tendai sect. And it is also the setting for a form of spiritual endurance marathons few people know about! Surrounded by towering cryptomeria trees, these magnificent buildings still serve as places for worship, retreat, and the practice of religious austerities. If you go be sure to take the time to explore this unending place of mystery and wonder.

To get to Enryaku-ji take from Kyoto Station (a 70-min ride) or Sanjo Station (a 55-min). You can also take an Eizan train for Yase from Demachiyanagi Station and get off at Yase-yuen Station. From there take the cable car & ropeway. (a 30-min ride in all) up the mountain side followed by a short walk and another bus ride.