Hiraizumi
UNESCO World Heritage Site: Hiraizumi Temples, Gardens And Archaeological Sites Representing The Buddhist Pure Land (2011); The Konjikido Is A National Treasure · Hiraizumi, Iwate
A small town in Iwate in northern Honshu that was, for about a century from the late eleventh century, the capital of the northern Fujiwara clan and one of the richest cities in Japan, built on gold mined in the region. The Fujiwara filled it with temples and gardens meant to recreate the Buddhist Pure Land on earth, before the clan was destroyed in 1189. The great survivor is Chuson-ji, a temple complex on a forested hill, whose Konjikido, the Golden Hall of 1124, is covered entirely in gold leaf inside and out and inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and holds the mummified remains of four generations of the Fujiwara lords. It is now protected inside a concrete hall. Motsu-ji has one of the best-preserved Heian-period gardens, a large pond garden that represents paradise, where a poetry festival is held on a winding stream in May. The poet Basho came here in 1689 and wrote a famous haiku on the vanished glory of the Fujiwara. Hiraizumi's temples and gardens are a World Heritage Site. The Geibikei gorge, with its boat rides, is nearby.
202 Koromonoseki, Hiraizumi, Iwate, 029-4102, Japan
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: Chuson-ji and Motsu-ji open daily all year from about 8:30 am to 5 pm from spring to autumn, and close earlier, around 4:30 pm, from November to early March, with last entry some minutes before closing. The Heritage Center has a weekly closing day. The town loop bus runs at intervals in daytime only, and local trains back to Ichinoseki are infrequent in the evening. Confirm current times before relying on them.