Shingyohoto Pagoda

The torii of a small Shinto shrine within the temple grounds provides formal access to the sacred tree seen in back.

Covered wooden walkways connect the temple buildings to one another.

The octagonal Heart Sutra Hall houses a manuscript of the sutra copied by hand, at the time of a plague, by the Emperor Saga, following the suggestion of Kobo Daishi, who founded the Shingon Buddhism sect in Japan. The plague is said to have ended after the emperor finished copying the sutra. It is on public display only every 60 years.