Shohoji Temple

Shohoji stands at the base of Mt. Buppoji in Wazuka, Kyoto, a Rinzai Zen temple dedicated to Amida Buddha. Founded in legend in 744, it was rebuilt in the mid-seventeenth century by the Tamura family with support from Tokugawa Masako, the empress consort, who donated the main gate from Kyoto's Sento Imperial Palace. The Buddha Hall dates to that reconstruction and is a designated Tangible Cultural Property. Its approach is lined with maple trees thought to have been gifted by Eigenji Temple in Shiga, turning vivid red and orange in autumn. A stone path leads past a Jizo Hall and twelve zodiac bodhisattva statues.