Rarely visited and tucked away at the foot of Kyoto’s Otagi Mountain, Otagi Nenbutsu-ji is a temple that feels worlds apart from the polished shrines and crowds of nearby Arashiyama. Moss-laden, quiet and steeped in a peculiar charm, it is best known for the 1,200 stone Rakan statues that dot its grounds, each a unique, hand-carved representation of one of Buddha’s disciples. Their expressions range from joyful to meditative, grinning, laughing, sipping sake, or caught in sil

Bursting with an impressive collection of ancient cultural treasures, Eikan-dō is a sprawling complex of gardens and halls, most famous for its crimson maple leaves in Autumn. Established in 853 at the northern foot of Mount Higashiyama, this temple was a place of learning that nurtured the Pure Land sect it now belongs to.