Heian Shrine

The shrine was built in 1895 for the eleven-hundredth anniversary of the founding of Kyoto, at a point when the capital had moved to Tokyo and the city was in decline and needed the assertion. It is a partial reconstruction at about two-thirds scale of the Chodoin, the ceremonial heart of the original Heian palace, in vermilion and green with tiled roofs - the Chinese-influenced style of the eighth century rather than the wooden idiom of later Japanese shrines, which is why it looks unlike anything else in the city. The huge torii on the approach, 24 metres high, was added in 1929. The garden behind is the reason to pay: about thirty thousand square metres of Meiji-period strolling garden around three ponds, with weeping cherries in early April, irises in June and a covered bridge from the old Kyoto palace.

History

The shrine began as a partial replica of the Heian Palace, planned in 1895 for the 1100th anniversary of Heian-kyō as the centrepiece of an industrial exhibition held in Kyoto that year; afterwards it was kept as a shrine to Emperor Kanmu, in whose reign the city became the capital. In 1976 fire gutted nine buildings, including the main sanctuary, and they were rebuilt three years later with donations (Wikipedia, Heian Shrine).

Highlights

• A palace replica - the Heian ceremonial hall at about two-thirds scale, from 1895.
• An eighth-century idiom - vermilion and green, unlike the timber shrines around it.
• A 24-metre torii - added on the approach in 1929.
• The Meiji garden - three ponds, weeping cherries and a covered bridge from the old palace.

When to go

Early April for the weeping cherries; June for irises. Two hours.

Good to know

The buildings are a nineteenth-century reconstruction, not an ancient site. The garden is charged and is the better half - the free courtyard is a large gravel expanse. Cherry season crowds the garden paths. Summer heat on the open courtyard is severe.

Nearby

Nanzenji is south-east; the Kyoto museums at Okazaki are beside it.

Key facts