Tokyo Sights

Kan-ei-ji (Kan-ei Temple)

Kan-ei-ji (Kan-ei Temple) Review

In 1638 the second Tokugawa shogun, Hidetada, commissioned the priest Tenkai to build a temple on the hill known as Shinobu-ga-oka in Ueno to defend his city from evil spirits. The only remarkable remaining structure here is the ornately carved vermilion gate to what was the mausoleum of Tsunayoshi, the fifth shogun. Tsunayoshi is famous for his disastrous fiscal mismanagement and his Shorui Awaremi no Rei (Edicts on Compassion for Living Things), which, among other things, made it a capital offense for a human being to kill a dog.

    Contact Information

  • Address: 1-14-11 Ueno Sakuragi, Taito-ku, Tokyo | Map It
  • Phone: 03/3821-1259
  • Cost: Free, contributions welcome
  • Hours: Daily 9-5
  • Subway: JR Ueno Station (Koen-guchi/Park Exit), JR Uguisudani Station.
  • Location: Ueno

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