Higashiyama Ward
Historic hillside quarter of stone-paved lanes, wooden teahouses and cliffside temples above old Kyoto.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Higashiyama Ward in Kyoto follows two old beliefs that shaped how pilgrims moved through these hillside lanes: a curse said to strike anyone who stumbled on the worn stone steps of Sannen-zaka, and a very different tradition just up the hill at Kiyomizu-dera, where worshippers deliberately leapt from a wooden stage forty-three feet above the ground, betting everything on a single jump. Temple records kept a careful count of how those leaps turned out across two centuries.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Kiyomizu-dera
Wooden temple stage built without nails, jutting thirteen meters above a forested hillside above a wish-granting waterfall.
Sannenzaka
Stone-paved pilgrim slope of old wooden shopfronts, said to curse anyone who stumbles on its steps.
Hōkan-ji Temple (Yasaka Pagoda)
Five-story wooden pagoda, last remnant of an ancient temple, rebuilt repeatedly after fires.
Ginkaku-ji
Unfinished retirement villa turned Zen temple, its bare wood pavilion and moon-viewing sand garden left just as its shogun founder saw them.
Gion
Lantern-lit lanes of wooden teahouses where apprentice geiko still hurry to evening appointments.
Kōdaiji Temple
Hillside Zen temple built by a widow, with gold lacquerwork mausoleum and Momoyama-era gardens.