Chion-in

Head temple of the Jōdo-shū in Kyoto — home to Japan's largest wooden temple gate and a 74-ton bell.

Chion-in in the Higashiyama district is the head temple of the Jōdo-shū, one of the most influential Buddhist schools in Japan. The temple traces its origins to a hermitage established by the monk Hōnen in 1175 and was expanded to its present scale under the Tokugawa shoguns in the 17th century. The Sanmon gate, the largest surviving wooden temple gate in Japan, is visible from a great distance. The temple bell weighs 74 tons — the largest in the complex — and is rung 108 times at New Year. Today Chion-in draws pilgrims, students and travellers in equal measure.