Saiho-ji and Enryaku-ji

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Saiho-ji

   Saiho-ji has a nickname that tells the whole story: Kokedera, the moss temple. The garden is carpeted by well over a hundred varieties of moss, in shades from emerald to near yellow, spreading between the trees and around the pond in a soft, damp quilt, and a day of rain makes it glow. The effect is accidental in origin, since the moss spread after the temple was neglected in the nineteenth century, but it fits the garden's older bones, which were laid out in the fourteenth century by the Zen master Muso Soseki. Muso also designed the garden of Tenryu-ji, on the other side of the Katsura river, and you can see a family likeness.

   Read the complete Saiho-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Saiho-ji is where the day begins. Next is Daigo-ji.

2. 2. Daigo-ji

   The oldest building in Kyoto does not stand in the city centre but in the southeastern hills, at the temple of Daigo-ji: a five storey pagoda completed in 951, which has survived fires, earthquakes and wars that destroyed almost everything else of its age in the city. The temple was founded in the ninth century on Mount Daigo, and its grounds spread from the foot of the mountain to the summit, linked by a steep path, with halls, gardens and sub temples along the way. It is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto World Heritage Site.

   Read the complete Daigo-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Daigo-ji comes up about 18 km into the recorded legs. Next is Enryaku-ji.

3. 3. Enryaku-ji

   Mount Hiei rises between Kyoto and Lake Biwa, and in 788 a young monk named Saichō built a small hermitage on its slopes. It grew into Enryaku-ji, the headquarters of the Tendai school of Buddhism and one of the most powerful religious institutions in Japanese history. Many of the founders of later Buddhist schools, including Hōnen, Shinran, Dōgen and Nichiren, studied here. At its height, the mountain held thousands of temples, and the monastery maintained an army of warrior monks who regularly descended on Kyoto to intimidate the court. In 1571, the warlord Oda Nobunaga, tired of their political meddling, attacked the mountain, burned the temples and killed thousands of people. The monastery was rebuilt in the following decades, and today its halls are spread across the forested summit in three main areas, connected by footpaths and roads. The main hall, the Konpon Chūdō, houses a lamp said to have burned continuously for over a thousand years. Enryaku-ji is part of the UNESCO listing of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto.

   Read the complete Enryaku-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 40 km into the recorded legs you reach Enryaku-ji. Next is back through Daigo-ji.

4. 4. back through Daigo-ji

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Daigo-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Daigo-ji, late in the day. Next is Saiho-ji.

5. 5. Saiho-ji

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Saiho-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Saiho-ji. That is the ride.