Hokan-ji Temple (Yasaka Pagoda)

Walk along Yasaka-dori in Kyoto's Higashiyama district and, at the end of a stone-paved slope, a five-roofed pagoda rises above the old houses. This is the Yasaka Pagoda, the landmark of Hokan-ji, a temple of the Kennin-ji school of the Rinzai sect. Its mountain name is Reio-zan and its principal image is the Five Wisdom Buddhas. The pagoda is an Important Cultural Property and has long stood at the heart of the neighborhood's scenery.

According to temple tradition, Prince Shotoku founded the temple in the second year of Emperor Sushun's reign (589), but this account rests on records from the early medieval period and its reliability is doubted. On the other hand, a 2009 excavation uncovered 7th-century clay Buddha tablets, foundation stones and ancient roof tiles, confirming that this is an old temple dating back to the Asuka period, before the capital moved to Heian-kyo. The age of the tiles suggests that it was probably founded in the reign of Emperor Tenmu. In ancient times it was called Yasaka-dera, and its first mention in the written record is an entry in the Shoku Nihon Koki for 837. It is thought to be linked to the Yasaka clan, a powerful immigrant family of the area. In 1240 the monk Saio Shokyu revived it as a Rinzai Zen temple, and it took the name Hokan-ji that it bears today.

The pagoda burned down three times: in 1179, by lightning in 1291, and in a great fire in 1436. The present pagoda is a 15th-century structure rebuilt in 1440 with the support of Ashikaga Yoshinori, and it keeps its pure Japanese-style (wayo) design with a main tile roof. It stands about 46 m tall, second in height only to the five-story pagodas of To-ji and Kofuku-ji. The foundation stone at the center of the pagoda is the original one from the temple's founding.

Besides the pagoda, the precincts hold the Yakushi-do and the Taishi-do, both designated Tangible Cultural Properties of Kyoto City. The Yakushi-do enshrines a Yakushi Nyorai and statues of the Twelve Divine Generals, and the Taishi-do houses statues of Prince Shotoku at the ages of three and sixteen. You will also find the Yasaka Inari Shrine, the tea house Chotaku-an, the head mound of Kiso Yoshinaka and the tomb of Fujiwara no Kazuko, so that many layers of history are packed into a small compound surrounded by townhouses.

The interior of the pagoda is opened to visitors on an irregular basis, and you can go up to the first floor and the second floor. The first floor has a platform (shumidan) with seated statues of the Five Wisdom Buddhas, Dainichi, Shaka, Ashuku, Hosho and Amida, and you can see the structure of the pagoda up close, including the central pillar that runs through it. Because the stairs inside are steep, young children are not admitted. Opening depends on the weather and on the temple's circumstances, so it is best to check before you visit. The temple has no parking lot of its own, so plan to come by bus or on foot.

Nearby are Kodai-ji (about 300 m), Rokuharamitsu-ji (about 560 m) and Yasaka Shrine (about 570 m), so it fits easily into a walk through Higashiyama toward Kiyomizu-dera. Even from the outside, the view of the pagoda looking up from the slope of Yasaka-dori is a classic Kyoto scene that makes many travelers stop in their tracks.