龍雲寺, Buddhist temple in Hamamatsu, Japan
Ryuun-ji is a Rinzai Buddhist temple in Hamamatsu built on a wooded hillside, with gardens designed by Yasuo Kitayama. The grounds spread across several levels connected by paths, steps, and a red bridge that crosses a valley on the site.
Ryuun-ji follows the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism, a tradition brought from China to Japan during the medieval period. The temple was established as a working religious site for the Hamamatsu area and continues to function as one today.
The temple displays a large calligraphy artwork made by Shoko Kanazawa, an artist with an intellectual disability whose work has gained wide recognition in Japan. Seeing it in person gives visitors a sense of how art and spiritual practice can come together in a single space.
The temple sits on a hillside outside the city center and is easiest to reach by car, though bus connections from Hamamatsu Station are also available. Wear sturdy shoes, as the paths across the grounds involve slopes and steps.
Along the entrance path, stone figures of rakan, the Buddha's disciples, are placed at intervals, each with a different pose and expression. There are 500 of them in the Buddhist tradition, and their presence is meant to give the sense of being accompanied as you walk toward the main hall.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
