Like its twin Higashi-Honganji, the story of Nigashi-Honganji starts in 1272 when the founder of the Shin sect of Buddhism was enshrined here by its daughter and followers. The sect grew in importance rapidly. In 1602 it was split in two by shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu to cut down its power. Tokugawa offered a piece of land to each half, an offer they could probably not refuse even at that time. Today each temple occupies an entire city block (and the garden Shosei-en uses a third one), which translates in telephone-number prices (in dollars, not yen!)
While Higashi-Honganji has little to offer to the visitors besides its two halls and a couple of museums, Nishi-Honganji has a few secrets up its sleeves. Unfortunately it is very hard to have access to them, for the back of the temple is rarely open to visitors. A quick look on Google Maps will reveal various small temples sprinkled around a large pond, and a few "karesansui" gardens (枯山水, or dry landscape garden). One thing that is accessible year-round is the beautifully decorated south gate (King's gate), with its numerous brightly coloured mythical beasts.
All this, however, is nothing compared to the real secret of Nishi-Honganji. While most tourists visiting Kyoto know about the Golden pavilion and the Silver Pavilion, very few know that there is a third famous pavilion in Nishi-Honganji. Don't look on the English wikipedia page: it's not there! Photos are rare and accounts even more, for the pavilion can very rarely be visited and even so the rules are rather drastic (I have heard "one photo per person", but recently photos have been prohibited it seems). The building is called the "flying cloud pavilion" (飛雲閣, Hyunkaku) and its architecture is more elaborate yet harmonious, with each of its three floors having a slightly different style. Access: 500 円 Nearby: Higashi Hongan-ji 東本願寺 (640m), Watchigai-ya 輪違屋 (730m), the Kyōto Tower 京都タワー (800m), the Sumiya 角屋 (840m), Kyōto Station 京都駅 (840m), Rokunomiya-jinja 六孫王神社 (930m), Shōsei-en 渉成園 (1000m), Kanchi-in 観智院 (1km), Tō-ji 東寺 (1.1km), Byōdō-ji 平等寺 (1.2km),... External links: Website, ウィキペディア, Wikipedia, Wikipédia, Kyoto Navi, Trip Advisor, Kyoto Design, 京都風光, Inside Kyoto, Marutake, そうだ京都, Satellite view, Map Keywords: Japan, 日本, Japon, Kyoto, 京都, 下京, 中京, 上京, 西本願寺, Nishi Honganji, temple, UNESCO world heritage, 寺院, 仏閣 Statistics: visited on 3 occasions, id 313, 14 photos (6 extra photos can be found in the archive). In Nishi Hongan-ji:  Hiun-kaku (飛雲閣)
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