Temples and Shrines Like a Local

01

Kiyomizu-dera

Photo by Thananat/Istock

Geoffrey Moussas

Photo by Joel Kimmel

The MIT-trained architect Geoffrey Moussas (design1st.net) has spent the past 16 years in Kyoto, where his projects include resto­rations of machiya townhouses, tearooms, and other traditional Japanese structures. Here he shares five of his favorite temples and shrines around town. 

Daitoku-ji
“The most overlooked temple in probably all of Japan. It’s a real Zen temple for studying, not really a tourist attraction, and has more of a residential quality, where you can see the interaction between the gardens and buildings. It’s much more dynamic.”

Kennin-ji
“From the same Zen sect as Daitoku-ji, but more accessible. You can see quite a bit more of the main area and halls. It’s in the center of town, so go in the evening before dinner in Gion.”

Konchi-in at Nanzen-ji
“One of the first gardens where Kobori Enshu—likely the most well-known Jap­anese garden designer—started to use forced perspective. He also did the gardens at the main temple, but Konchi-in is a sub-temple and not many people go.”

Kiyomizu-dera
“It’s a must-see, and it gets very crowded, but it opens at 6 am. If you get there before 8—no matter what time of the year you go—you’re never going to have crowds.”

Yasaka-jinja
“This is the main shrine, and during cherry-blossom season it’s actually nice because of the crowds. In the evenings it’s like a festival atmosphere, where everyone’s drinking and getting food from stalls. But it’s good to go any other time, too.”