Founded at the end of the 8th century, Enryakuji is one of the most important temples in the history of Japanese Buddhism as it sits near the top of Mt. Hie (Hiezan) which straddles the boundary of Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures. Enryakuji is the most prominent temple of the traditional Tendai sect of Buddhism and at one time it was in command of over 3,000 sub-temples and an army of warrior monks. The Hiezan monks were responcible for burning down rival monasteries, fighting feudal lords for control over surrounding areas, and even taking on famed warlords like Oda Nobunaga. Ultimately they lost against Nobunaga and his forces when he burned the temple grounds in 1571 and were later closely watched by Toyotomi Hideyoishi and the subsequent Tokugawa shogunate. Because of Nobunaga, almost every building in the Enryakuji complex dates back no later than the 17th century in the Edo period.

For the casual: 5. For the educated: 5.

To be completely honest, I was underwhelmed by Enryakuji. As a history major, Enryakuji and the warrior monks of Hiezan pop up fairly often. New temple? Burn it to the ground. Warlord expanding territory? Back off buddy. They're so common in Japanese history that I tend to see them and the Tendai sect in general as being rather obnoxious and intolerant. But this is the mothership, the biggest and greatest, the biggest pain in the butt possible! And yet I couldn't have cared less.

When refreshing my history on the temple and even reading some other posts about it, they kept referencing the same things about why they liked it. "It's so serene and peaceful!" Yeah, I guess it is, but no more than most of the other places I wrote about, and it would be a lot more serene if I wasn't fighting people for a goshuin. "The history is truly humbling." I call BS on that. This may just be my education butting in on these matters, but again, the Hiezan history is nothing that I would describe as being very Buddhist. The temple is very grand, but some may not know that Hiezan, the mountain itself, is an auspicious landmark which has been looked upon with great reverence by the people of Kyoto for thousands of years. In addition, I find that the most humbling temples are the ones truly hidden away, not standing over the Kyoto area and receiving generous donations from the noble families below.

The two things I truly give to Enryakuji are the views and the transportation (at least getting to the temple). Hiezan stands out from the surrounding mountains and a short hike from the complex to the summit gives visitors a breathtaking view of the Kansai plain. On the day I was there in mid-Autumn, I could see from the northern mountains of Kyoto Prefecture to the skyscrapers of Osaka and Kobe (a rarity to be sure). The sights and sounds of the woods were also extremely welcome as they reminded me of the redwoods of home. Here and there little stone Buddhas and Bodhisattvas adorned the trails, fire roads, and trees to the summit.

The transportation bothered me. I took a bus from Gion to Hiezan, which was naturally packed full of people considering the time of year I was there. It was uncomfortable but not unexpected. The bad part was trying to get back down. Though there are city buses dropping off visitors at Hiezan almost one every ten minutes, there is only one regular sized city bus taking people back every hour. Result? Waiting in a line for two hours to get back down the mountain. That doesn't sound too bad, more uncomfortable than bad, but let me just remind you, or inform you if you don't know, that Kyoto is not known for its mild weather. It's pretty much either super hot or super cold. This day was super cold and I hated every moment of it. I had Sophie's line from "Howl's Moving Castle" stuck in my head. "It's so cold! I'm fatter than ever but the wind blows right through me!" There are other ways to get up and down the mountain which is wonderful. All I can say is DON'T TAKE THE BUS!!!

All in all, the temple was fine. I'm not sure if I'll ever want to take the day trip up there again considering how much of a pain it was. The way I see it: if it's the temple's history you're after then go for it; it's a beautiful temple with lots of stories to tell. If you're just going to see one of any number of temples in the Kyoto area, then you'd be better off spending your time and money somewhere else. If you're reading this then you've at least gotten an idea of how many places I've been to prior to going to Hiezan. I'm a bunka otaku (culture nerd), what can I say? But honestly, this complex never wowed me. Maybe I was expecting too much. Maybe my standards are too high considering a temple of this magnitude. At the end of the day, I'm not thinking fondly of my time at Enryakuji and I'm not planning my next visit anytime soon.

Some of the graves behind the temple complex.