Kyoto’s most famous temple was first founded in 798 and rebuilt in 1633 by the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu. It spreads over wooded slopes and ravines on Mount Otowa, providing grand vistas toward the city from the verandah of its main hall. Although the main hall is dedicated to Kannon, the goddess of mercy and compassion, Kiyomizu is most famous...

When Tokugawa Ieyasu set up his shogunate in Edo (present-day Tokyo) and built his magnificent Edo Castle there, Kyoto was relegated the official capital in name only, home to the imperial family. So that he would have a place to stay in Kyoto, Tokugawa built Nijo Castle as his residence in 1603, which to this day is considered a fine...

Japan’s most famous rock garden is the epitomy of simplicity–an area measuring just 25m (80 ft.) long and 10m (30 ft.) wide, enclosed on three sides by a beautifully colored earthen wall and on the fourth by a wooden verandah, upon which you can sit and contemplate the scene set out before you: 15 rocks placed just so in a...

There are some pretty amazing statistics when it comes to this major attraction. If the thought of more than 1,000 life-size wooden statues carved in the 12th and 13th centuries doesn’t excite you, perhaps the fact that they’re housed in the world’s longest wooden building will. In any case, this is probably the most visually stunning assemblage of statues I’ve...