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Photo: 663highland, CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons
While the temple may not seem so special, the trip is made worthwhile by the amazing Kamakura Period artwork housed in its museum. In particular, the statue of Kuya is quite a unique piece of artwork depicting Kuya Shonin reciting the nenbutsu. To depict the words, the artist Taira Kiyomori, sculpted six miniature figures of Kuya Shonin walking out of his open mouth. Each figure represents one syllable in the nenbutsu. This temple is also the 17th temple of the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage.
Rokuharamitsu-ji (六波羅蜜寺) is a Buddhist temple located in the Rokkaku-dori Matsubara-dori Yamato-oji Higashiiru neighborhood of Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Japan. It belongs to the Shingon-shū Chisan-ha sect of Japanese Buddhism and its honzon is a hibutsu statue of Jūichimen Kannon that is designated a National Treasure. The temple's full name is Fudaraku-san Fumon-in Rokuharamitsu-ji .The temple is the 17th stop on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage route.
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建仁寺
Japan's oldest Zen temple, has handsome halls and sand and moss gardens, and is of particular interest to art lovers. Sōtatsu's famed Edo-period screens of the Wind and Thunder Gods are on display. And on the high ceiling of the Hatto Dharma Hall writhe Koizumi Junsaku's splendid Twin Dragons, painted and installed in 2002.
茶道体験カメリア
You can enjoy an authentic tea ceremony in a beautiful 100-year-old traditional Geisha house just five minutes from Kiyomizu Temple. Instruction, demonstration, a bowl of tea and a sweet are included. Each session starts every hour on the hour, between 10:00 and 17:00. Cash and credit card accepted.
京都国立博物館 Kyoto Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan
It is near Sanjusangen-do, and has a large collection of ancient Japanese sculpture, ceramics, metalwork, painting, and other artifacts. (It's quite similar to the Tokyo National Museum in Tokyo/Ueno.) The Museum building is fairly grand, but the statue of Rodin's The Thinker out front is a bit out of place, as there's no Western art inside. It's seven minutes east of Shichijo Keihan.
高台寺
This temple was built for Toyotomi Hideyoshi's widow by Tokugawa Ieyasu and is located right next to the Ryōzen Kannon temple on the Higashiyama mountain. If you really like temples this is a very nice one. It's got a nice bamboo grove that you walk through on the way out. It was established in 1605. The remaining buildings survived a fire in 1789.
霊山観音
A memorial to the unknown Japanese soldiers who died in World War II, with a 24-meter-tall statue of Kannon.
八坂神社
At the eastern end of Shijō-dōri, at the edge of Gion, is the shrine responsible for Kyoto's main festival - the Gion Matsuri, which takes place in July. The shrine is small in comparison with many in Kyoto, but it boasts an impressive display of lanterns.