Nanzen-ji

南禅寺

Big Zen temple with a brick aqueduct

Hours

Mar–Nov 8:40–17:00, Dec–Feb 8:40–16:30

Tickets

Sanmon about ¥600 (grounds free)

Address

Nanzenji Fukuchi-cho, Sakyo-ku

Standing under the huge Sanmon gate, the timber pillars seem to hold up the sky. Deeper in the woods a row of red-brick arches, the Suirokaku aqueduct, sits oddly well against the temple roofs, and there is always someone photographing it. The abbot's garden is a good place to park on the veranda for a while. The grounds are big; a full loop takes longer than you expect.