Gokoku-ji

photo by Lombroso · CC BY 2.5

photo by Daderot · CC0

70 steps from the metro to the temple; the Gekkō-den, from Mii-dera in Ōtsu, reassembled in 1928

From the metro exit you climb a flight of about 70 steps, a quarter of a storey high, to reach the temple. At the top, the 1697 Kannon-dō is one of the few large buildings in the centre to have survived the 1923 earthquake and the 1945 bombings. Next to it, the Gekkō-den, dismantled in Ōtsu and reassembled here in 1928, keeps its Momoyama style.

Founded in 1681 at the wish of Keishōin, mother of the fifth shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, who entrusted to it a small amber Kannon as its sacred image. The current Kannon-dō, the main building, was rebuilt in 1697 after the first one burned, and is now a national Important Cultural Property (重要文化財), designated on 19 January 1931 together with the Gekkō-den, a Momoyama-period pavilion moved in 1928 from Mii-dera temple in Ōtsu (Shiga). The complex, with the Nio-mon, the Tahōtō and other historic buildings, is among the few in central Tokyo to have kept its original appearance through the 1923 earthquake and the 1945 bombings.

ℹ️ Open every day 10:00–16:00 with a midday closure 12:00–13:00, except for special services (the temple's official source, gokokuji.or.jp/access, verbatim: ‘拝観時間 10時から（12時から13時、閉堂）16時まで、行事等により拝観不可もあり’). Free entry to the grounds. Exit 1 of Gokokuji Station on the Yūrakuchō metro line: the flight of about 70 steps up to the temple starts right outside. On the 18th of every month the normally hidden statue of the goddess Kannon is shown (source: GO TOKYO).

🚉 Gokokuji · 4 min walk

Sources: gokokuji.or.jp · gokokuji.or.jp · kunishitei.bunka.go.jp · gotokyo.org · city.bunkyo.lg.jp

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