Higashi Hongan-ji is the head temple of the Ōtani branch of Jōdo Shinshū, the largest Pure Land Buddhist denomination in Japan. The vast Goeidō hall in the centre of the complex — fifty-eight metres across — is one of the largest wooden buildings in the world, finished in 1895 after the previous structure burned down four times in two and a half centuries. It commemorates Shinran, the thirteenth-century founder of the sect.
Inside, on either side of the main altar, are displayed several braided ropes made from human hair donated by women across Japan when ordinary rope proved too weak to haul the giant roof timbers into place during the 1895 reconstruction. The temple is a working religious centre and entry is free; remove your shoes and walk through the wooden corridors quietly. The smaller, separately administered Shōseien garden, a few blocks east, is one of central Kyoto's most peaceful pond gardens.