Nishi Hongan-ji

se_0.0

Located in the city, there's a huge temple. Just about a 5-minute walk from Kyoto Station, you can see two massive temples sitting side by side, Higashi Honganji and Nishi Honganji. They are the head temples of the Jodo Shinshu Honganji sect, the largest Buddhist sect in Japan, which boasted a strong influence. The division of Honganji into East (Higashi) and West (Nishi) by Tokugawa Ieyasu led to its current form. Both temples were similarly structured, with the Goeido (Founder’s Hall: dedicated to the portrait of the sect's founder) and Amida-do (Hall of Amida Buddha) connected by a corridor, and stepping out of the main gate across the courtyard reveals the Kyoto cityscape. Both temples, located in the heart of the city, are open for the public to freely visit and worship. Entering Goeido, one can see a significant number of people praying. Especially, the Goeido of Higashi Honganji is regarded as the largest wooden structure in Kyoto, measuring 76m in length, 58m in width, and 38m in height, equivalent to the size of a 12-story building. In Japan, there's a unit of area called 'Jo,' referring to a single tatami mat approximately 90cm x 180cm, slightly smaller than a single bed. Goeido can fit about 927 tatami mats, roughly estimating a space for around 927 people to lie down. Following the Great Buddha Hall in Nara prefecture, it is considered the second largest, and its immense size is still not something easily accustomed to even after experiencing many large wooden structures in Japan.