Ninna-ji Audio Guide

Ninna-ji: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Ninna temple

   Welcome to Ninna temple, known in Japanese as 仁和寺, in the Omuro Ouchi district of Kyoto's Ukyo Ward, at the foot of Mount Kinugasa along the road called Kinugake no Michi. This is the head temple of the Omuro branch of Shingon Buddhism. Its mountain name is Dainai-zan, and its principal image is Amida Nyorai, the Buddha of the Pure Land. The temple was founded by Emperor Uda, and that royal connection is the thread running through your whole visit. For centuries, the abbots here came from the imperial family, and the temple was nicknamed the Omuro Palace. Today it is part of the World Heritage listing called Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto, which was inscribed in 1994. Over the next few stops, I will walk you through how the temple began, how an imperial palace hall ended up as a Buddhist hall, and what to look for in the gate, the pagoda and the famous cherry trees. Settle in, and let's begin at the beginning.

2. 02

   Ninna temple and the Retired Emperor

   Our story starts in the year 886, when Emperor Koko issued an imperial order to build a temple here. It was completed in 888, and it took its name from the era in which it was built, the years called Ninna. In Japanese, the temple's name is literally a calendar stamp. Then came Emperor Uda, who took the tonsure, shaving his head to enter religious life, and entered this temple. Within its grounds he set up a private residence called the Omuro, which means something like a honorable chamber. That is why the temple has long been called the Omuro Palace. From then until the Meiji Restoration, imperial princes and grandsons served in turn as its head, as monzeki, the title for a temple led by a member of the nobility. Ninna temple ranked first among such temples. It is also counted as one of the three Kobo Daishi temples of Kyoto, together with Toji and Shinkoin. So as you walk through, you are moving through a place where religion, court life and Kyoto's imperial history are woven together.

3. 03

   A Palace Hall Reborn at Ninna temple

   Here is one of the most surprising facts about Ninna temple. Most of its buildings burned during the Onin War, which raged from 1467 to 1477. Rebuilding came in the Kan'ei and Shoho eras, between 1624 and 1648. In 1634, the twenty-first head of the temple, Prince Kakushin, asked the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu, who was visiting Kyoto, to help restore the temple. Iemitsu agreed, and the shogunate's backing made the rebuilding possible. The result was a kind of recycling on an imperial scale. When the imperial palace in Kyoto was rebuilt in the Kan'ei years, some of its old buildings were granted to the temple and moved here. The Golden Hall, a National Treasure, is the former Shishinden, the main ceremonial hall of the palace, built in 1613. It is the oldest surviving Shishinden anywhere. When it became a Buddhist hall, the roof was changed from cypress bark to tile, but you can still see palace touches, such as lattice shutters that lift upward and gold decorative metal fittings. Inside, the principal image is Amida Nyorai. The Founder's Hall, an Important Cultural Property, was built between 1641 and 1645 using timber from the palace's former Seiryoden hall. It enshrines images of Kobo Daishi, the founder of the Shingon school, along with Emperor Uda and the second head of the temple, Prince Shoshin.

4. 04

   Gate, Pagoda and Gardens of Ninna temple

   As you enter, the Niomon gate greets you. It was completed around 1644 and is built in a purely Japanese style, which gives it an old-fashioned, dignified feel suited to a temple founded in the Heian period. It is counted among the three great gates of Kyoto. Then look for the five-story pagoda, completed in 1644 and standing about 36 meters tall. Like the pagoda at Toji, its stories shrink only slightly as they rise, which gives it a calm, stately outline and makes it a signature of the Kan'ei period. Together with the Omuro cherry trees, it is the symbol of the temple. Beside the main path lies the residence quarter, the Goten, which occupies about a quarter of the grounds near where Emperor Uda's residence once stood. Its Shinden hall burned in 1887 and was rebuilt in 1914 to a design by the garden craftsman Kameoka Suekichi. It sits between a south garden of white gravel and a north garden with a pond for strolling. Together they keep an air of the old palace.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off from Ninna temple

   Before you move on, notice the Omuro cherry trees. There are around 200 of them, and they are known as the latest-blooming cherries in Kyoto, usually flowering in mid-April. They are low trees, only 2 to 3 meters tall, so the blossoms form a pink layer around the pagoda instead of a high canopy. In autumn, the grounds are also known for their colored leaves. There is still plenty to discover. The Reihokan treasure hall holds temple art, and the Kannon Hall, the bell tower and the sutra repository are among the other Important Cultural Properties. Look too at the imperial-style gate by the main path, which was rebuilt in 1913 and is not used for entry. When you wander back, ask yourself which building felt most like a palace and which felt most like a temple. At Ninna temple, you may find that the answer changes from one hall to the next.