Kyoto 2019: Kodaiji Temple (高台寺)

Just a bit north of Kiyomizudera Temple is Kodaiji, one of Kyoto’s notable Zen temples. Kodaiji was founded 1606 to enshrine the spirit of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a very important person in Japan’s history, and later it would also enshrine the spirit of his wife Nene. Photography is forbidden inside the main hall and other temple structures but I can show you the temple’s rock garden and the exterior of some of its buildings. Normally Japanese rock gardens are uncolored but when I visit Kodaiji in 2019 there were sections of the rock garden that had been painted.

Around the rear from Kodaiji’s main hall is another garden area and Kaizando Hall where prayers are made for Hideyoshi and his wife. Inside the hall are wooden sculptures of both of them.

The final part of the tour route through Kodaiji crosses a stream and then goes up a nearby hill and through the temple’s small bamboo grove. There are a couple small teahouse huts up on the hill and when you exit Kodaiji you’ll be near the entrance to the temple’s museum where you can see artifacts that have been moved there for preservation.