Until the early 17th century Higashi-Hongan-ji and Nishi-Hongan-ji were one temple. Then Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa took advantage of an internal feud within the Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism and, to diminish its power, split it into two different factions. The original faction has the west temple, Nishi-Hongan-ji, and the later faction the eastern temple, Higashi-Hongan-ji.
The rebuilt (1895) structure of Higashi-Hongan-ji is the second-largest wooden structure in Japan, after Nara's Daibutsu-den. During construction of the temple, female devotees had their hair cut and woven into the strong thick rope -- called kezuna -- used to drag the heavy timber. A ragged section of one kezuna is on display inside the Daishi-do, a double-roofed structure that is admirable for its curving, swooping lines. The temple contains fewer historical objects of interest than its rival, Nishi-Hongan-ji. From Kyoto Station walk 500 yards northwest; from the costume museum walk south on Horikawa-dori.
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