Daitokuji Temple

Daitokuji is among the great temples of northern Kyoto and the head temple of its own Rinzai branch. Most of its buildings burned in the Onin War and the temple's fortunes fell with them, until the Zen master Ikkyu revived it; in the Momoyama period Toyotomi Hideyoshi and other warlords poured resources into rebuilding, and it flourished. More than twenty sub-temples now form a grid of walled lanes, and simply walking between them gives you the ordered quiet of a Zen compound. Note that the main precinct is normally closed to general visitors — you can stroll the grounds, but for interiors you choose among the sub-temples that open regularly, such as Daisen-in, Ryogen-in and Zuiho-in.