Byodoin

Byodoin began as a Fujiwara villa and was converted to a temple in 1052; the Phoenix Hall was completed the following year and has stood since - a genuine eleventh-century building, which is rare, and a national treasure. It was built as a representation of Amida's Pure Land on earth, with the hall's winged form set on the far side of a pond so that it appears to float and doubles in the water. Inside is a seated Amida by Jocho, the sculptor whose technique of assembled blocks set the standard for Japanese Buddhist sculpture afterwards, surrounded by fifty-two bodhisattvas on clouds attached to the walls. The building is on the ten-yen coin and the phoenix on its roof is on the ten-thousand-yen note. A modern museum built partly underground holds the original roof phoenixes, the temple bell and half the wall bodhisattvas.

What you actually see

• An 1053 building - the Phoenix Hall itself, standing since the eleventh century.
• The reflection - the winged hall doubled in the pond it was sited against.
• Jocho's Amida - the sculpture that set the standard for Japanese Buddhist carving.
• The underground museum - original roof phoenixes, the bell and wall bodhisattvas.

When to go

Late April for wisteria over the pond; all year otherwise. Two hours.

Honest expectations

The hall interior is entered only on a timed extra ticket in small groups, and slots sell out early in the day. The reflection needs still water. Uji is a further train ride beyond Kyoto. Photography inside the hall is prohibited.

Nearby

Uji's tea shops line the river; Fushimi Inari is north.