Hōkan-ji Temple (Yasaka Pagoda)

This guide to Hokan-ji Temple, the Yasaka Pagoda, in Kyoto opens in 1179, when a violent feud between the Gion shrine and Kiyomizu-dera temple set this hillside ablaze and destroyed the ancient temple the pagoda once belonged to. You'll hear about the warlord Minamoto no Yoritomo, who funded its first rebuilding in 1191, and the further fire and reconstruction that followed under a later shogun. Look up at the top tier for its unusual railed balcony, rare among Japan's pagodas.