🌟 "To-ji Temple" - Home to Japan's Tallest Five-storied Pagoda 🌟
Photography was not allowed inside the Kondo and Lecture Hall, so please make sure to visit and see for yourself. The kids were completely amazed.
💻 To-ji Temple Official Website
toji.or.jp/
Even just browsing the website lets you glimpse its magnificence…🌸
■ Location: Kujocho, Minami Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture
■ Access: About 15 minutes by city bus or on foot from Kyoto Station
■ Size: Approximately 230,000 m² (about 4.9 Tokyo Domes!!)
■ Sect: Head temple of the Shingon sect, To-ji branch
■ Founded: 796 AD (15th year of the Enryaku era)
■ Main Structures:
🔵 Five-storied Pagoda (National Treasure)
🔵 Golden Hall (Kondo) (National Treasure)
🔵 Lecture Hall
🔵 Kobo Daishi Kukai Statue enshrined in the Kobo Hall
■ Important Cultural Properties: Many structures designated as National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties, including statues and murals
■ Features:
① Japan's tallest five-storied pagoda (55 meters high)
② Kobo Market (famous monthly antique market held on the 21st)
■ Historical Background:
① Founded by Kukai (Kobo Daishi) after his return from China, becoming a center for Shingon Esoteric Buddhism
② Deeply connected with many historical events since the Heian period
❓ What is Shingon Buddhism? ❓
- One of the major Buddhist sects in Japan, founded in the early 9th century by Kukai (Kobo Daishi)
- Based on Esoteric Buddhism (Tantric Buddhism) transmitted through India and China to Japan
- Its doctrines and practices are kept secret, only taught to successors
- Emphasizes meditation and training using Mandalas (symbolic diagrams of the universe and Buddhist realms)
- Aims for enlightenment through rigorous practice
Cafe managed by a photographer:
☕ It's Portrait Cafe
※No website for the cafe
📸 It's Portrait Studio
its-portrait.jimdofree.com/
🥟 Gyoza no Ohsho
www.ohsho.co.jp/