Enryakuji Temple

Enryakuji Temple on Mount Hiei

Enryakuji Temple (延暦寺, Enryaku-ji) is the head temple of the Tendai school of Buddhism, spread across Mount Hiei in Sakamoto Honmachi, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, founded by the monk Saichō in 788 and rebuilt after its destruction in 1571, with the Konpon Chūdō of 1640 at its heart. Saichō's first hall, the Ichijō Shikan-in, stood on the site of today's Konpon Chūdō. As the temple itself explains, "Enryakuji" is the collective name for around 100 halls scattered over about 1,700 hectares of mountain; there is no single building by that name. The mountaintop is divided into three precincts, Tōdō, Saitō and Yokawa, and at the foot of the mountain the temple town of Sakamoto holds dozens of sub-temples known as satobō.

Among its buildings, the Konpon Chūdō is a National Treasure. The Konpon Chūdō Corridor, the Great Lecture Hall, the Kaidan-in, the Tenpōrin-dō, the Jōgyō-dō and Hokke-dō, the Sōrintō, the Ruri-dō and a group of eleven halls including the Monju-rō gate and Saichō's mausoleum are each designated an Important Cultural Property, and the Daishoin reception hall and its garden gate are Registered Tangible Cultural Properties. In 1994 Enryakuji was inscribed on the World Heritage List as part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto.

From Founding to Fire to Rebuilding

Saichō trained on Mount Hiei and founded the Ichijō Shikan-in in 788. The temple says the name Enryakuji was granted by Emperor Saga in 823, the year after Saichō's death. His successors Ennin and Enchin enlarged the complex, and in 972 the abbot Ryōgen rebuilt Yokawa, completing the three-precinct layout. Lying northeast of the capital, the direction from which misfortune was believed to come, the temple was also valued as a spiritual guardian of Kyoto.

In 1571 Oda Nobunaga's army burned almost every building on the mountain. The Agency for Cultural Affairs summarises the recovery: Toyotomi Hideyoshi permitted rebuilding in 1584; from 1607 the monk Tenkai, based at the Nankō-bō in Tōdō, led the work; and the Konpon Chūdō rose again in 1640. The major halls followed over the next half century, and most of what stands on the mountain today dates from that period. The only building the temple describes as having survived the fire is the Ruri-dō, north of Saitō.

The Three Precincts and Sakamoto: Layout and Route

Enryakuji's cultural properties are divided between the three mountaintop precincts and Sakamoto below. The temple suggests allowing at least an hour for Tōdō and at least 40 minutes each for Saitō and Yokawa.

• Tōdō: centred on the Konpon Chūdō and its corridor, with the Great Lecture Hall, the Kaidan-in, the Monju-rō, the Sannō Shrine, the Amida Hall bell tower and the Daishoin with its gate. The Enryakuji Bus Center and Cable Enryakuji Station are here.
• Jōdo-in: Saichō's mausoleum, on the ridge between Tōdō and Saitō. It belongs to Tōdō and lies on the footpath to Saitō.
• Saitō: about 1 kilometre west of Tōdō. The Jōgyō-dō and Hokke-dō stand at the top of a flight of steps with the Tenpōrin-dō (Shaka-dō) below; the Sōrintō is on the hill to the north, the Saitō bell tower on the southern slope, and the Ruri-dō on a detached site further north.
• Yokawa: about 4 kilometres north of Saitō. The Shiki Kōdō (Ganzan Daishi-dō) and the Yokawa bell tower stand east of the Yokawa Chūdō, with Ryōgen's mausoleum in the woods behind.
• Sakamoto: the temple town at the foot of the mountain, where the Jigen-dō, dedicated to Tenkai, stands southwest of the Shiga-in Monzeki.

For a one-day visit, a practical order is to ride the cable car up to Tōdō, see the Konpon Chūdō and its neighbours, walk past the Jōdo-in to Saitō, and take the shuttle bus on to Yokawa. The Jigen-dō in Sakamoto fits in before you board the cable car or after you come down.

Opening Hours and Tickets

The three mountaintop precincts share one combined ticket: 1,000 yen for adults, 600 yen for junior and senior high school students and 300 yen for elementary school children (800 yen and 500 yen per adult and student for groups of 20 or more). The National Treasure Hall museum is a separate 500 yen for adults.

Tōdō is open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. all year. Saitō and Yokawa open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from March to November and from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from December to February. Last admission everywhere is 3:45 p.m. Ceremonies, storms or snow can shorten opening hours (checked September 2026).

Getting There and Getting Around

From the Shiga side, go to Sakamoto-Hieizanguchi Station on the Keihan Ishiyama-Sakamoto Line or Hieizan-Sakamoto Station on the JR Kosei Line, ride the Sakamoto Cable Car up to Cable Enryakuji Station, and walk to Tōdō; the temple puts the journey at about 40 minutes. From Kyoto, the Hieizan Drive Bus runs from Kyoto Station and Keihan Sanjō to the Enryakuji Bus Center in about 70 minutes. Another route climbs from Yase-Hieizanguchi Station on the Eizan Railway by the Eizan Cable Car and Ropeway to the summit, then continues by shuttle bus to the Enryakuji Bus Center.

By car, allow about 30 minutes from the Kyoto-Higashi interchange of the Meishin Expressway via the Nishi-Otsu Bypass and the Hieizan Driveway, or about 35 minutes from the Ogi-Ogoto interchange of the Kosei Road via the Oku-Hiei Driveway.

On the mountain, the shuttle bus takes about 5 minutes from Tōdō to Saitō and about 10 minutes from Saitō to Yokawa. It does not run in winter. Walking from Tōdō to Saitō takes about 20 minutes over unpaved slopes and steps. In Sakamoto, the Jigen-dō and the Shiga-in Monzeki are about a 5-minute walk from Sakamoto-Hieizanguchi Station.