Otagi Nenbutsu-ji: the 1,200 stone rakan at the far end of Saga-Toriimoto, Kyoto

Arashiyama, west of Kyoto, is one of the most visited areas of the city: the Sagano bamboo grove and the Togetsukyo bridge fill up thousands of photos every day. But if you climb north, along the historic Saga-Toriimoto road, the crowds thin out with every block. At the top of the rise, on a wooded flank of the Ukyo-ku hills, stands Otagi Nenbutsu-ji: a small temple where you can often walk in and find yourself almost alone, a few kilometres from the chaos of the bamboo.

The stone statues

What you see as soon as you pass through the gate are the statues. More than twelve hundred rakan — the disciples of the Buddha — carved in stone and arranged over terraces and slopes, now covered in bright green moss. They are not the work of master stonemasons: they were carved between 1981 and 1991 by ordinary devotees and visitors, amateurs who took part in the restoration of the temple under the guidance of the monk-sculptor who ran it. The result is an army of faces all different. One clutches a tennis racket, another holds a portable cassette player, two toast with a cup of sake, laughing, some play instruments, others cradle a child or cover their faces with their hands. It is worth walking slowly and looking at the expressions one by one: that is where the meaning of the place lies, more than in the architecture.

The temple itself has ancient origins — it was founded in the 8th century and moved to its present position in the twentieth — but it is this silent crowd of modern statues that makes it memorable. The visit is short: in twenty or thirty minutes you have seen it all. It is worth choosing early morning or a grey day, when the moss is more vivid and the rakan, lit from the side, really do seem to be in conversation with one another.

How to get there

There are two ways to get there. The simplest: from Saga-Arashiyama station (JR Sagano line from Kyoto) you take a Kyoto Bus bound for Kiyotaki — routes 62, 72, 92 or 94 — and get off at the Otagi-dera mae stop, right in front of the entrance. The buses run infrequently, so it is worth photographing the timetable at the stop for the return. The second way is on foot, and it is the one that pays off: from the centre of Arashiyama you climb for about half an hour along Saga-Toriimoto, a protected stretch of road with wooden houses with thatched roofs, small shops and a few tanuki statues. You pass first in front of Adashino Nenbutsu-ji — another temple linked to the cult of the dead — and Otagi is the last stop, at the top. Coming back down, you naturally head towards the bamboo and the bridge: it is the most logical sequence for anyone who wants to see the quiet part first and the touristy one afterwards.

Practical information

A few practical notes. Admission costs a modest amount (around 300-500 yen depending on the source) and is paid in cash. The temple closes on Wednesdays, except on public holidays, and the stated hours vary slightly between the different sources, generally from morning until the early afternoon: better to check the official website (otagiji.com) before setting off, not least because the return depends on the few buses. The address is 2-5 Sagatoriimoto Fukatanicho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto. Coordinates: 35.031375, 135.661122.

Related guides: Unusual Japan: destinations and itineraries off the tourist trail.