Kiyomizu-dera

音羽山 清水寺

A nail-free wooden stage hanging over the trees

Hours

Opens 6am; closing varies by season, around 6–6:30pm (see the official monthly table)

Tickets

Adults ¥500, elementary/junior high ¥200, at the gate

Address

1-294 Kiyomizu, Higashiyama-ku

The main hall's stage juts out over the cliff on 139 wooden pillars, without a single nail. What you look down on is less the city than a sea of maple trees. Walk past it to the Okunoin side and turn round: the whole stage and hillside fit in one frame, which is where every postcard is shot. On the way down, people queue at Otowa Falls to sip from one of three streams said to grant learning, love or long life.