Chion-in: what's nearby, how to get there and when to go · 2026

Chion-in (知恩院, Monastery of Gratitude) in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Japan is the headquarters of the Jōdo-shū (Pure Land Sect) founded by Hōnen (1133–1212), who proclaimed that sentient beings are reborn in Amida Buddha's Western Paradise (Pure Land) by reciting the nembutsu, Amida Buddha's name.The vast compounds of Chion-in include the site where Hōnen settled to disseminate his teachings and the site where he died.