Kitain Temple

1 / 3‹›

Photo: Wikimedia Commons（CC BY-SA 3.0）

An ancient temple said to have been founded in 830 by the eminent Tendai priest Ennin (Jikaku Daishi), affectionately known as "Kawagoe Daishi." During the Edo period it received deep patronage from the Tokugawa family and flourished under the chief priest Tenkai, a close advisor to the third shogun, Iemitsu. When many of its halls were destroyed in the great Kawagoe fire of 1638, buildings from Edo Castle were reportedly relocated here on Iemitsu's orders; its guest hall and study still contain the room said to be Iemitsu's birthplace and the room used by Lady Kasuga for her toilette, and many of the surviving buildings are designated Important Cultural Properties of Japan. The 538 stone Buddhist statues known as the "Gohyaku Rakan" (Five Hundred Arhats), lined up at the back of the grounds, were dedicated over about 50 years starting in 1782 and are counted among Japan's three great collections of rakan statues; the sight of each statue with its own distinct expression—laughing, crying, and more—is a famous highlight. The Momijiyama Garden also holds a weeping cherry tree said to have been planted by Iemitsu himself, and this is one of Kawagoe's leading temples, drawing worshippers year-round.