Hōnenin Temple

A moss-covered thatched gate marks the entrance to Honenin, a temple that sits quietly against the wooded slopes of the Higashiyama mountains. Unlike the crowded shrines nearby, this temple retains the atmosphere of a secluded mountain retreat. In the nineteen twenties, the writer Junichiro Tanizaki lived nearby and found such deep inspiration in the temple grounds that he requested to be buried here. His grave is marked by a simple stone engraved with the single character for nothingness.