Sanjusangen-do

Step out of the sunlight and into the long, dim hall of Sanjusangen-do, and you are confronted by an army of gods. Rank upon rank of life-size gilded statues of Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion, stand in ten rows across the 120-meter length of the hall — a thousand standing figures around a great seated Kannon at the center, 1,001 in all, each with many arms and its own slightly different face. In front of them stand twenty-eight guardian deities carved with astonishing energy, and at either end of the hall the famous gods of wind and thunder. The temple's name means "hall with thirty-three spaces between the columns", a reference to its extraordinary length, and the building is often called the longest wooden structure in the world. It was founded in 1164 by the retired emperor Go-Shirakawa; a fire destroyed the original in 1249, but 124 of the standing statues were saved, and the rest, along with the central seated Kannon by the master sculptor Tankei — a National Treasure — date from the thirteenth-century rebuilding. Shoes come off at the entrance, photography is not allowed inside the hall, and the effect of walking slowly past those glinting rows in the half-light is both meditative and overwhelming. Sanjusangen-do is in the Higashiyama area, a short bus ride or about twenty minutes on foot from Kyoto Station, and charges a modest admission fee.

Sanjusangen-do is the perfect antidote to Kyoto's crowded headliners. It is impressive in a way that photographs cannot capture — partly because you cannot take any inside — and because the experience is indoors, it is ideal for a rainy day or the heat of summer. Take your time. Look along the rows and you may notice that no two faces are exactly the same; there is an old belief that among the thousand you will find the face of someone you have lost. The guardian deities, each a vivid character, are masterpieces of Kamakura-period sculpture, and the wind and thunder gods, carrying their bag of winds and ring of drums, are among the most reproduced images in Japanese art. A visit takes about forty-five minutes to an hour.

Outside, walk along the veranda on the west side of the hall. Since the Edo period this 120-meter gallery has been used for archery contests, in which archers shot arrows along its full length, and the tradition continues each January with the Toshiya archery event, when young people in kimono, many celebrating coming of age, compete in the temple grounds — a colorful spectacle if your trip falls at the right time. The gardens around the hall are small but pleasant, with a pond and seasonal flowers.

The temple's location makes it easy to combine with others. The Kyoto National Museum, with outstanding collections of Buddhist sculpture, ceramics and calligraphy, is directly across the street. Kiyomizu-dera is a twenty-minute uphill walk to the east, and Fushimi Inari a short train ride south. A good morning plan is Fushimi Inari at dawn, Sanjusangen-do when it opens, then up to Kiyomizu-dera and down through the old lanes to Gion. The nearest stations are Shichijo on the Keihan line, about a seven-minute walk, and Kyoto Station, about twenty minutes on foot.