I dropped by at Byodoin Temple in Uji city next to Kyoto city.
It was listed on Word Heritage Cultural Site.
Byodoin Temple is a striking example of Buddhist Pure Land architecture.
Together with its garden, the temple represents the Pure Land Paradise and was influential on later temple construction.
Byodoin was initially built in 998 as a countryside retreat villa for the powerful politician Fujiwara no Michinaga, not as a temple.
Michinaga’s son turned Byodoin into a temple and ordered the construction of its most spectacular feature, the Phoenix Hall.
Although the building was given another official name, almost immediately after its construction in 1053, it was nicknamed Hoodo or Phoenix Hall because of its shape and the two phoenix statues on its roof.
The hall is now featured on the back of the Japanese ten yen coin.
Byodoin’s buildings were repeatedly lost to fires and other calamities over the centuries. Visitors to Byodoin can enter the Phoenix Hall on short guided tours in Japanese.
It start every 20 minutes and cost an additional 300 yen.
It houses a statue of the Amida Buddha.
