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