Myoho-in and Sanjusangen-do

Sanjusangen-do, formally the Main Hall of Rengeo-in, was built in 1164 (Chokan 2) at the order of the Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa, on the grounds of his palace. The name, meaning thirty-three bays, comes from the 33 spaces between the columns of the inner sanctuary, and the hall runs about 120 meters north to south. The first hall burned down about 80 years after its founding and was soon rebuilt under the Retired Emperor Go-Saga. The building seen today had its dedication service in 1266 (Bun'ei 3) and is a National Treasure as an early Kamakura work. Going in knowing that this is the hall rebuilt after the fire, not the original, changes how it looks.

The hall is a single-story building 35 bays wide and 5 bays deep, with a gable roof and hongawara tiles. A seven-bay porch runs across the front and emphasizes the length of the narrow building. A building this long is rare among surviving Japanese architecture. At the center of the hall sits the main image, a seated Thousand-Armed Kannon. It stands 355 centimeters high and is a National Treasure, completed during the rebuilding by the master sculptor Tankei with disciples from his school. To its left and right, life-size standing Thousand-Armed Kannon statues line ten rows of stepped platforms, and the standing statues number 1,001 in all. Of the thousand, 124 date from the Heian period when the hall was founded, and the rest were remade over 16 years in the Kamakura period. About 500 still bear their makers' names, showing that sculptors of the Kei, In, and En schools took part. All the standing statues were designated National Treasures in 2018.

The statues of the Wind God and Thunder God are also National Treasures from the Kamakura period, 123 and 105 centimeters high respectively. Tankei, who oversaw the statues for the rebuilding, is said to have been closely involved in making them, and they are regarded as the works that fixed the later image of these two gods. In 2018 the placement of the Twenty-Eight Attendants and the Wind and Thunder Gods was returned to its original arrangement, based on Kamakura-period prints and scholarly research. As you walk along the rows of Kannon, also check where these figures stand.

On the Sunday closest to January 15 each year, the Omato Taikai is held, an archery contest named in connection with the Edo-period Toshiya, with about 2,000 participants from across Japan. A service called Yanagi no Okaji takes place the same day. Dates can be checked in the notices on the official site. The Great South Gate and Taiko Wall in the grounds are Momoyama-period structures designated Important Cultural Properties. Myoho-in, which owns the hall, also has a kitchen and priests' quarters (kuri) designated a National Treasure. The kuri dates from the Momoyama period, measures 21.8 meters wide and 23.7 meters deep, is single-story with a hip-and-gable roof, and has a karahafu-gabled entrance. It is a different building, but worth pairing to follow the history of the same temple. Kiyomizu-dera is in the same Higashiyama ward, so visiting two Kyoto Higashiyama temples back to back is easy to plan.