In 1603, the Chion-in Temple in Higashiyama, Kyoto, was declared by the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu as temple of the Tokugawa family. Several years afterwards, the second Tokugawa Shogun, Hidetada, erected the Sanmon Gate, one of the most beautiful such gates in Japan.

Now, after 4 centuries, the Sanmon Gate is one of the oldest constructions of the Chion-in Temple and, renovated in 1992, looks magnificent, especially on the few occasions when it is illuminated at night.

Sanmon Gate, Chion-in, Higashiyama, Kyoto

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