Tofuku-ji Temple in autumn

Tofuku-ji Temple:

The ravine on the north side of the compound here, spanned by three different bridges, is carpeted with maples that turn bright crimson in November. The view from the Hojo Garden here is superb in autumn.

This temple is the head temple of the Tofukuji School of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism. It was built in 1236 on the instructions of Kujo Michiie, the great statesman of the Kamakura period, who desired to build in Kyoto a temple complexes in Nara. Even its name, Tofukuji, is a combination of one chalacter from the names of each of these Nara temples. Its original buildings were burned but were rebuilt in the 15th century according to the original plans. About this time it flourished as one of the Five Great Temples of Kyoto. Its many compounds and sub-temples survived the ravages of war and fire until the late Meiji period when the Butsuden (Buddha hall) were burned. However, it even now retains the magnificent scale characteristic of a medieval Zen temple.

Tofuku-ji Temple is located on the eastern side of Kyoto between Kujo-dori and Jujo-dori. The Tofuku-ji station of Japan Rail as well as the Keihan electric railway are the closest rail stations to the temple to the southeast of the station. Bus 6 or 16 from Shijo-Karasuma also serves the temple. The temple is 1 mile (1.6km) southeast of Kyoto Station, and is open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Entry fee.