Byodoin
Heian period, constructed 1053
(Uji city, Kyoto prefecture)

The Byodoin is in Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture. It was completed in 1053 at a place of great natural beauty near the Uji River. The site was earlier a villa belonging to Fujiwara Michinaga, whose son Yorimichi was responsible for building the most famous building of the compound, the Amida Hall, popularly known as the Phoenix Hall (Hoodo), on an island in a garden pond. The Phoenix Hall's wooden image of Amida Nyorai (the "Buddha of Immeasurable Light" who presides over the Western Paradise of the Pure Land) is the work of the innovative sculptor Jocho. Wooden wall and door panels have paintings of raigo scenes of Amida welcoming souls which depart this world as described in the Meditation Sutra (Kammuryoju-kyo), parts of whose text also appear on these panels. The Byodoin's architecture, sculptures, paintings, calligraphy and other arts are considered masterpieces of the late Heian period (794-1185). Among these works is an exquisitely designed temple bell (bonsho).