The massive Higashi Hongan-ji (東本願寺) is the first temple you see as you head north on Karasuma-dōri from Kyoto Station, and the awesome structures and dazzling interiors make it an obvious visit. The vast Goei-dō (main hall) is said to be the second-largest wooden structure in Japan: 38m high, 76m long and 58m wide. Look for the coil of rope made from human hair on display in the passageway to the adjoining refurbished Amida-dō hall, enshrining the Amida Buddha. Following the destruction of the temple in the 1880s, female temple devotees donated their locks to make the ropes that hauled the massive timbers used for reconstruction.
Higashi Hongan-ji was established in 1602 by Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu in a "divide and conquer" attempt to weaken the power of the enormously popular Jōdo Shin-shū (True Pure Land) school of Buddhism. The temple is now the headquarters of the Ōtani branch of Jōdo Shin-shū.
