Tofukuji Temple

Founded in 1236, Tofukuji is Kyoto's largest Zen temple — its name borrowed one character each from Nara's Todaiji and Kofukuji. The grounds run to roughly 240,000 square metres, and the view from the Tsutenkyo bridge down into the Sengyokukan ravine is the reason most people come. It holds the oldest surviving Sanmon gate in Japan, along with a medieval monastic toilet, both important cultural properties. The 1939 abbot's garden is the only one in Zen Japan laid out on all four sides, with the north garden's checkerboard of moss and stone the most photographed. In autumn the narrow bridge corridor packs solid — go early.