Hida Kokubun-ji

Buddhist temple with a 1,200-year-old ginkgo tree and a three-storey pagoda

Founded in 746 on the order of Emperor Shōmu, Hida Kokubun-ji is the oldest religious building in Takayama. The main hall (Hondō) is a Muromachi-period reconstruction, but the temple's setting and the great ginkgo tree at its heart give it the unhurried atmosphere of much older places.

The small three-storey pagoda in the precinct dates from 1820 and is one of the most photographed buildings in the town outside the Sanmachi old quarter. The pagoda is particularly striking in autumn when the ginkgo turns gold.

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A story
The huge ginkgo tree in the courtyard is, according to a local legend, the same age as the temple itself — over 1,200 years. Long strings of cloth icicles known as 'chichi-no-ki' hang from its lower branches; mothers tie them to ask for the gift of breast milk.

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