Enryakuji

Saicho founded Enryakuji on Mount Hiei in 788, and for centuries it was the intellectual centre of Japanese Buddhism - Honen, Shinran, Eisai, Dogen and Nichiren all trained here before founding the schools that carry their names. The complex is not one compound but three areas strung along the ridge, Todo, Saito and Yokawa, several kilometres apart and linked by forest paths and a shuttle bus. The Konpon Chudo, the central hall, holds a lamp said to have burned since Saicho lit it, in a sunken sanctuary below the level of the worshippers so the images are at eye height from the floor. The monastery's monks maintain the kaihogyo, a practice of walking the mountain daily over a thousand days across seven years, which very few complete. It is a UNESCO site within the Kyoto inscription.

History

Saichō, who brought the Tendai school of Buddhism from China, founded the monastery on Mount Hiei in 788, and with the support of Emperor Kanmu he ordained a hundred disciples in 807, who spent twelve years of study and meditation in seclusion on the mountain before taking posts in the monastery or the government. At its height Enryaku-ji had as many as 3,000 sub-temples and an army of warrior monks; from the 10th century, disputes between the lines of Ennin and Enchin split the Tendai between Enryaku-ji and Mii-dera, and hired armies even marched on the capital to press the monks' demands. In 1571 the warlord Oda Nobunaga attacked the mountain, levelling its buildings and slaughtering monks, and the present halls date from the late 16th and first half of the 17th century, the main hall from 1642 under Tokugawa Iemitsu; only the small 13th-century Ruri-dō survived. The founders of the Jōdo, Jōdo Shinshū, Sōtō Zen and Nichiren schools all spent time here, and it is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Enryaku-ji).

What to look for

• Three areas on a ridge - Todo, Saito and Yokawa, kilometres apart in forest.
• The Konpon Chudo - a sunken sanctuary with a lamp said to have burned since 788.
• A training school - where the founders of most later Japanese Buddhist schools studied.
• The kaihogyo - a thousand-day mountain walking practice still maintained.

When to go

April to November; late October for colour on the ridge. A day.

Practical notes

The three areas are far apart and covering them takes a full day with shuttle buses. The Konpon Chudo has been under long-term restoration with scaffolding and covers. Winter closes roads and much of the site. Access by cable car or toll road is expensive.

Nearby

Lake Biwa is east below the ridge; Kyoto is west.

Key facts