Kodai-ji Temple is especially famous for some of the historical personages and artifacts associated with it; but it is a beautiful temple and deserves to be visited in its own right. Its walking garden is an exceptional piece of landscape architecture, featuring large stones and trees placed on a hilly landscape among elegant temple buildings, tea houses, and a bamboo grove. From the top of the hill, you are afforded great views of not only the temple grounds, but of much of Kyoto.

 

The two teahouses, named Kasa-tei (umbrella shaped bower) and Shigure-tei (house of drizzling rain) are classics designed by Sen-no-Rikyu, a famous master of tea ceremony. The roof of Kasa-tei is made of logs and thin bamboo, lending it the appearance of a traditional umbrella, hence its name.

 

The temple is also famous for the style of lacquer created for its furnishings, in which special effects were achieved through the sprinkling of gold flakes into the lacquer. Several pieces of lacquer ware are on prominent display within the temple.