What it is
A large Zen temple at the foot of the eastern hills, founded in 1291 on the site of an retired emperor's villa, and the head temple of its branch of Rinzai. Its Sanmon gate is enormous, and you can climb it for a view out over the treetops.
The aqueduct
⭐ The thing nobody expects: a red-brick arcade striding straight through the temple precinct, looking like a Roman aqueduct dropped into a Japanese garden. It is the Suirokaku, built in 1888 to carry the Lake Biwa Canal — a Meiji engineering project that brought water over the mountains into the city.
It was controversial then and it is the most photographed thing on the site now. Water still runs along the top of it.
Where it leads
The canal that crosses here is the same one the Philosopher's Path follows north, so the two connect and make one long walk along the base of the hills.
The sub-temple gardens within the grounds are quieter than the main hall and are the reason to allow more time than the gate suggests.
