Kuramadera Temple

Kurama-dera, tied to the legends of the boy warrior Ushiwakamaru and the mountain tengu, is reached by a switchbacking path that climbs for about a kilometre — the road Sei Shonagon described in The Pillow Book as 'near yet far.' It's a real climb, but the history along it makes the walk. From in front of the main hall, Mount Hiei opens out across the valley. Every 20 June the temple holds the Takekiri-e ceremony, in which priests cut through 10-centimetre green bamboo with a blade in a single stroke — a genuinely forceful sight. That, and the Kurama Fire Festival held at Yuki Shrine on the mountain each 22 October, draw the biggest crowds of the year.