Sanjusangen-do

三十三間堂

1,001 Kannon in a 120 m wooden hall

⚠ No photos inside

Hours

Apr 1–Nov 15 8:30–17:00; Nov 16–Mar 31 9:00–16:00 (last entry 30 min before)

Tickets

Adults ¥600

Address

657 Sanjusangendo-mawari, Higashiyama-ku

Shoes off, and the dark hall runs away from you until you can't see the end. 1,001 gilded thousand-armed Kannon stand in ten tiers, all facing the same way. Around the big seated Kannon in the middle, the gods of wind and thunder glare out from either side. The building is counted among Japan's longest wooden halls, and in January an archery event is held along its side veranda.