Kyoto · near Kyoto StationNo.333★★Open in map →
Higashi Hongan-ji
— one of the world's largest wooden halls
The head temple of the Otani branch of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, ten minutes' walk from Kyoto Station. Its main hall, at 927 tatami mats, is among the largest wooden buildings in the world. Entry is free.
Walk north out of Kyoto Station and within ten minutes there is a wall, a gate the size of a small building, and behind it a courtyard with two enormous halls. The Goei-do is the larger — a traditional timber hall whose interior floor runs to 927 tatami mats, putting it among the biggest wooden structures anywhere. It costs nothing to enter and you can sit inside on the mats for as long as you like. The building you see went up in 1895, after the temple burned repeatedly through the Edo period, and the reconstruction produced one of the more remarkable objects on display here: ropes woven from human hair, donated by women among the temple's followers when hemp rope kept breaking under the weight of the timbers. They are kept in the corridor gallery. The gate itself, the Goei-do-mon, is among the largest wooden temple gates in the world.
Why it stays quiet
It is enormous, free, opens before 6:00, and stands a ten-minute walk from Kyoto Station — yet most visitors arriving at the station head straight for Kiyomizu or Fushimi Inari without knowing it is there.
Background & history
The temple was founded in 1602, when Tokugawa Ieyasu granted land to Kyonyo, splitting the powerful Hongan-ji institution into eastern and western halves — the division that still gives Kyoto two great Hongan-ji temples a few streets apart. Fire destroyed the complex several times in the Edo period. The present Goei-do dates from 1895, and during that reconstruction female followers cut and donated their hair to be woven into hauling ropes strong enough to move the roof timbers; several of these ropes are preserved and displayed in the temple corridor.
What to look for — in walking order
- Goei-do (Founder's Hall)
- 927 tatami mats of floor — one of the largest wooden buildings in the world
- Goei-do-mon gate
- the great two-storey wooden gate facing Karasuma-dori, among the largest of its kind
- The hair ropes
- hauling ropes woven from hair donated by female followers during the 1895 rebuild, displayed in the corridor
- Amida-do
- the companion hall beside the Goei-do, enshrining the Amida Buddha
How to enjoy it
Go first thing. The precinct opens before 6:00 in the warmer half of the year, the morning service is held in the halls, and at that hour you can sit on the mats of a 927-mat room with almost nobody else in it. It is also the correct first stop if you have just arrived at Kyoto Station with luggage and time to fill.
How to actually get there
- Kyoto Station, Karasuma exit → north on Karasuma-dori, ~8-10 min.
- Through the Goei-do-mon gate → the courtyard → the Goei-do (main hall) on the right.
- Goei-do → the connecting corridor gallery (hair ropes) → the Amida-do.
- Walk north from Kyoto Station
- Kyoto Station, Karasuma (north) exit → walk north on Karasuma-dori for about 8-10 minutes → the temple wall and the great gate are on your right, at Shichijo. No transport needed.
- Walk back, or continue west
- Kyoto Station is a 10-minute walk south. If you want to continue, Nishi Hongan-ji — the related head temple of the other branch — is about 10 minutes west on foot, and is also free.
Before you go
- Cash
- Entry to the precinct and both main halls is free. The separate Shosei-en garden east of the temple charges a small admission, payable in cash.
- Closing days
- Opening hours change with the season: roughly 5:50-17:30 from March to October and 6:20-16:30 from November to February. Check the official site for the current day.
- Another way
- Shosei-en, the temple's detached garden, is about a 5-minute walk east and is a separate, quieter visit with its own admission.
- After you get off
- From Kyoto Station's Karasuma exit, walk straight north on Karasuma-dori. The gate faces the street at Shichijo — you cannot miss it.