Kenninji Temple

Kenninji was founded in 1202 by Eisai, the monk who brought tea seeds back to Japan and made tea-drinking a common habit. Inside the walls the Sanmon gate, Dharma hall, abbot's quarters and study line up in sequence, ringed by fourteen sub-temples — among them Reidoin with its celebrated garden, not open to the public — giving the compound its composed Zen character. Each spring, on the anniversary of Eisai's birth, a large tea gathering is held in the main quarters where the old Zen tea procedures are performed. It stands a short walk from the middle of Gion, and the drop in noise as you pass through the gate is part of the experience.