4417-4417 Travel Guide

Hojo-in, formally Uihozan Hojo-in Jokoji, is a Shingon-Ritsu temple at the eastern end of the Uji Bridge, known simply as Hashidera, the 'bridge temple'. Founded in 604 when Prince Shotoku's vow was carried out by Hata no Kawakatsu, it enshrines the Jizo the prince carried; when the monk Doto spanned the Uji River with the first bridge in 646, halls were raised here for prayers, and the temple was put in charge of the bridge — repairing it after every flood, hence its name. Restored by Eison (Kosho Bosatsu) in 1281, it held a great life-release ceremony in 1286 at the thirteen-storied stone tower on Toba-no-Shima in the river, taking the name Hojo-in, and received 300 koku of land from Emperor Uda. Its 1.9-metre Jizo image is an Important Cultural Property shown in spring and autumn special viewings, and the Uji Bridge Dampi in the grounds is one of Japan's three oldest stone inscriptions.

The Kyoto Animation Shop (KyoAni Shop) is the official store of Kyoto Animation in Uji. With KyoAni's headquarters in Uji, the shop sells goods and exclusives from its works (K-On!, Sound! Euphonium, Violet Evergarden and more) — a must-visit for anime fans coming to Uji.

Kosho-ji is a Soto Zen temple in Uji's Ujiyamada, formally Kosho-horin-zenji on Mount Buttoku. Founded by Dogen Zenji in 1233 at Fukakusa in Kyoto as Japan's first Soto dojo, it was rebuilt in Uji in 1648 by the jodai lord Naoi Naomasa using Fukakusa Castle's timbers, and ranks among Japan's five great Soto Zen forests. Its Koto-zaka approach is famed for spring green and autumn maples.

Byōdō-in, in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, began as a Heian-era aristocrat's villa turned temple, famed for the national-treasure Phoenix Hall — its elegant Amida hall mirrored in the Aji-ike pond like the Pure Land on earth, and depicted on the ¥10 coin. Cherry, azalea and maple change with the seasons; the Hoshokan museum holds Heian Buddhist art. Byōdō-in is among the finest expressions of Japan's Pure Land faith and Heian aesthetics, the cultural core of any Uji tea-country visit.