Kiyomizu-dera

기요미즈데라

Kiyomizu-dera, or "Pure Water Temple", is a Buddhist temple on a wooded hillside in eastern Kyoto, Japan. It is best known for its huge wooden stage that juts out over the slope, held up by tall pillars and built without nails. The stage stands about 13 metres above the hillside, and the view over Kyoto from it is famous, especially in spring and autumn.

See it on the 3D globe →

At a glance

Country: Japan
Location: Kyoto, Japan
Built: 1633
Height: 31 m
Type: Religious building

Quick answers

Where is Kiyomizu-dera?

Kiyomizu-dera is in Kyoto, Japan.

When was Kiyomizu-dera built?

Kiyomizu-dera was built in 1633.

How tall is Kiyomizu-dera?

Kiyomizu-dera is about 31 m tall.

Kyoto temple famous for its wooden stage jutting over the hillside on a lattice of pillars built without nails.

The temple is dedicated to Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion, and is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of the few temples in Kyoto that is older than the city's founding as the capital Heian-kyō.

A legend of golden water

According to the founding legend, in 778 a monk named Kenshin, later called Enchin, followed a dream to Mount Otowa. There he found a golden stream and an old hermit, Gyōei, who prayed to the thousand-armed Kannon. The hermit asked Kenshin to carry on his work, and the monk built the temple around the waterfall. The name Kiyomizu, meaning "pure water", comes from the spring on the site.

The wooden stage

The present buildings were rebuilt in the 1600s. The stage is built from a lattice of wooden pillars and beams, using traditional joinery with no nails. A three-storey pagoda on the grounds is about 31 metres tall. Every year on 12 December, since 1995, the temple holds the ceremony where the Kanji of the Year, a single Chinese character that sums up the year, is written by the head priest.