Settled in on the northern side of Kyoto not too far down the road from Ryoanji is the Imperial villa which was converted into a temple by Emperor Koko in the early Heian period as the public interest in the growing Amida Buddha worship of the Shingon sect of Buddhist. The buildings are 17th century restorations of the original 9th century buildings funded by Prince Kakushin with additional backing from the Tokugawa Shogunate. Ninnaji is known for the grand nature of the buildings in particular the main gate, the villa, and a five story pagoda near the end of the main path. Ninnaji was established as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

For the casual: 10. For the educated: 10.

So I figure I might as well say this here, but for the majority of the places I visited in Kyoto, I have a feeling that they're all going to be ranked very high. Maybe not all 10/10 like this, but I can't imagine too many below 8/8. Ninnaji is not one of the temples that draws the major crowds like Kinkakuji or some of the others, but because of that the crowds should be rather small. Now as I've said before in other Kyoto posts, going to many of these sites will cost some money to enter, not even a medium amount, but they will ask for some money for tickets (usually about 500 yen or so). Why am I talking money? Because I had the unfortunate experience of being behind two other Americans realizing that going to the temple is free, but all the real stuff is in the villa off to the right which costs money. Sadly, they said no, and they made a huge mistake doing so. Again, this is another reason why I hope you are reading this, to help decide what to spend money on a what not to. Missing the villa is like passing the Mona Lisa, its beauty is screaming out to you, and yet you don't even look. The villa is Imperial which means that it is super well kept. Beautiful painted sliding doors, the best woodwork, hanging scrolls of emperors and other patrons adorn the wall, and finally the small but intimate prayer hall for Amida. Ninnaji doesn't seem like much of a temple compared to other complexes, but who cares, it's awesome!

A small statue of Amida Buddha in the final hall of the villa.