Tō-ji Temple

Interesting facts

Tō-ji's medieval archive of more than 24,000 documents, dating from 763 to 1711, has been on UNESCO's Memory of the World register since 2015.

Those records survived in 100 paulownia-wood boxes that Maeda Tsunanori, lord of the Kaga domain, presented to the temple in 1685, which gave the archive its name.

The present pagoda is the fifth on the site: four earlier towers were destroyed, mostly by lightning and fire, before the 1644 rebuilding.

When Heian-kyō was laid out, Buddhist temples were largely kept out of the new capital, so Tō-ji and its twin Sai-ji were rare official exceptions.

Sai-ji, the West Temple, faded away by the 16th century, undone by the poorly drained western city and lack of funds; a small park marks the spot.

The Golden Hall and Lecture Hall burned in 1486 during a popular uprising, and the Golden Hall standing today was paid for by Toyotomi Hideyori in 1603.

A wooden Bishamonten statue nearly two metres tall, carved from Chinese timber, is said to have guarded the Rashōmon gate before that gate collapsed in 980.

The Miei-dō keeps a ninth-century statue of Fudō Myōō as a strictly hidden image that is not put on public display.

According to legend, a rival monk from Sai-ji shot an arrow at Kūkai after losing a rain-making contest, and a statue of Jizō stepped in to take the hit.

The monthly market on the 21st is known in Kyoto as Kōbō-san, after Kōbō Daishi, the posthumous title by which Kūkai is revered.

Why it is worth it

Tō-ji, the East Temple, is one of the few survivors of Kyoto's founding plan. It was established in 796, two years after the capital moved here, as one of a pair of state temples flanking the great southern gate of the city; its twin, the West Temple, vanished long ago. In 823 the emperor entrusted Tō-ji to the monk Kūkai, who had brought the esoteric Shingon school back from China, and it has been a centre of Shingon Buddhism ever since. The temple's formal name, Kyō-ō-gokoku-ji, speaks of its original role: protecting the nation.

The skyline belongs to the five-storey pagoda. Rebuilt in 1643 on the orders of the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu after earlier versions were lost to fire and lightning, it stands about 55 metres high and is the tallest wooden tower in Japan. The Golden Hall (Kondō), the temple's main hall, houses a statue of Yakushi from 1603, the Buddha of healing, while the Miei-dō stands on the site of Kūkai's residence. The pagoda, Golden Hall, Miei-dō, Lotus Gate and the Kanchi-in guest hall are all designated National Treasures.

The most remarkable room is the Lecture Hall (Kōdō). Inside, twenty-one statues, most of them from the ninth century, are arranged around a central Dainichi Nyorai to form a three-dimensional mandala: Buddhas, bodhisattvas, fierce wisdom kings and guardian deities set out as a map of the esoteric cosmos. The arrangement is attributed to Kūkai himself, and standing among the figures is the closest most visitors will come to seeing Shingon teaching made physical. Tō-ji forms part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto World Heritage Site.

Tō-ji is also one of the liveliest temple grounds in the city. On the 21st of every month, the day of Kūkai's death, a large market fills the precinct with antiques, ceramics, old kimono and food stalls; the December market, the last of the year, is the busiest. The pagoda interior opens only on special occasions, and a pond garden with koi and turtles softens the formal layout.

Getting there

Tō-ji is in Minami ward, southern Kyoto, about a 15-minute walk from the Hachijō (south) exit of JR Kyoto Station. The nearest airport is Osaka Itami (ITM), about 36 km away; most international visitors arrive via Kansai International and continue to Kyoto Station by train.

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Tō-ji Temple

Interesting facts

Why it is worth it

Getting there

Plan your visit

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