Place of worship
Sennyū-ji Temple
27 Sennyūji Yamanouchichō, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, 605-0977
Imperial Buddhist temple guarding the tombs of generations of emperors, with a rarely shown statue honoring a legendary Chinese beauty.
This guide to Sennyu-ji Temple, Kyoto's Imperial Temple since 1242, tells the story of Yang Guifei, the eighth-century Chinese consort blamed for an emperor's downfall and killed at a roadside shrine, and a cypress statue in her likeness said to have reached this temple in 1255. For centuries a small hall kept her face hidden from view. The guide traces how a legendary beauty came to be honored on grounds built to hold the tombs of Japan's own emperors.
Audio guides are written and narrated by AI.