Toshodaiji Temple

Chinese monk Jianzhen was given the former residence of Niitabe Shin-no (the Emperor's son) in 759, after deciding to leave Todaiji Temple. There, he opened a school to teach Chinese Buddhist precepts. At the time, the site was merely a scripture house remodeled from a former residence and lecture hall. With time, it gradually began to develop into a formal temple. In the second half of the 8th century, Jianzhen's disciple Nyoho completed the Kondo Hall. It lived through the fires of war in the middle ages and anti-Buddhist policies in the Meiji era, and has continued to showcase numerous Tempyo-era structures and cultural properties to this day.