Nanzen-ji

This guide to Nanzen-ji in Kyoto centers on Ishikawa Goemon, a real outlaw of the 1580s and 90s said to have robbed the rich to help the poor, and the famous legend that places him atop this temple's gate admiring the spring view. You'll hear about his capture in 1594, and how a kabuki playwright nearly two centuries later chose this gate, rebuilt by the Tokugawa clan, as the stage for his legend. Climb the stairs and look for the redbrick aqueduct running through the grounds beyond.