Sightseeing

Saiho-ji Temple

Saiho-ji Temple is believed to have been established by Priest Ennin(Posthumous title : Jikaku Daishi) between 834 and 848, and originally belonged to the Sanmon School of Tendai Buddhism. Later, it became Jodo Buddhis temple, after its restoration by Priest Doku between the 1312-1316.Each year, on the evening of August 16th , the last day of the Bon Festival, huge bonfires are lit on the slopes of five mountains surrounding Kyoto, to guide and bid farewell to the souls of the ancestors returning to the next world.

Near Saiho-ji Temple, a boat-shaped bonfire is lit, and after this event, the Rokusainenbutsu Buddhist dance is performed in the tenple’s precincts. The performers dance, chanting Buddhist mantra, to the beat of gongs and drums, Saiho-ji Temple is well known for the Rokusainenbutsu, which preserves the temple’s ancient root.”