Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple, Buddhist temple in Saga Toriimoto, Kyoto, Japan
Otagi Nenbutsu-ji is a Tendai Buddhist temple at the foot of Mount Atago in Saga Toriimoto, Ukyō Ward, Kyoto. Its main hall is a Kamakura-period wooden building with a steep grey-tiled roof and a low veranda reached by stone steps. On the hillside around it stand 1,200 stone arhat statues, many wearing moss and fallen leaves.
Founded in 766 by Empress Shōtoku near Rokuharamitsu-ji in Higashiyama, the temple was ruined by Kamo River floods and revived by the Tendai monk Senkan, who renamed it Otagi Nenbutsu-ji. It was moved to its present Arashiyama site in 1922 to save the main hall, then devastated by the 1950 Typhoon Jane. In 1955 sculptor-monk Kōchō Nishimura began restoring it.
The stone figures throughout the grounds display smiling, thoughtful or shouting faces, giving the site a lively character. Visitors walk slowly along the paths, discovering new expressions and gestures carved into each sculpture.
The temple is open daily from 9:00 to 16:15, with no closing days. It stands at the foot of the Atago Shrine approach in Saga Toriimoto, reached by Kyoto Bus from Arashiyama Station; the bus to Kiyotaki runs about once an hour during the day, so check the timetable beforehand. On Saturdays and holidays the return trip does not pass Arashiyama Station.
The 1,200 stone arhats were carved by amateur visitors under sculptor-monk Kocho Nishimura from 1981, originally aiming for 500 but reaching 1,200 within a decade. Some figures incorporate the carvers' personal interests, such as a baseball player or a figure with a camera.
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