Hōkan-ji Temple (Yasaka Pagoda)

The Yasaka Pagoda rises five stories high with a distinctive bowed wooden profile that leans slightly toward the northeast. This structure is the lone survivor of Hokan-ji Temple, founded by Prince Shotoku in the sixth century. While the city burned and shifted around it for generations, this tower endured as a landmark for travelers navigating the Higashiyama hills. A carpenter reportedly saved the pagoda during a massive fire in the nineteen hundreds by climbing the roof to beat back the flames.