During trip to Tokyo Tower it’s really worth to take a tiny detour and see San'en-zan Zōjō-ji, a Buddhist temple located just behind the tower. 

Zōjō-ji is a former funerary temple of Tokugawa’s family and it’s the Great Main Temple of the Chinzei branch of Jōdo-shū (Pure Land) sect of Buddhism. It was made in 1393 during the Muromachi period, but since then was relocated (at first the temple was in Kaizuka, then to Hibiya and finally in 1590 to it’s current location) and subjected to many disasters, including war and fire. Several times in history the temple was rebuild, last time in 1974.

Inside the Daiden (Main Hall) there’s a statue of Amida Buddha which was made during the Muromachi Period. On the left there’s a statue of Great Teacher Shan-tao and on the right there’s a statue of Hinen Shonin. The inside of the temple is astonishing with it’s delicate light and shimmering gold as well as the light smell of incense. 

Main gate of the temple is called Sangedatsumon which means "three Moksha (liberation, release) gate". It is believed that passing through this gate will free a person from three states of mind: greed, hatred and foolishness. It was constructed in 1622 and is considered Important Cultural Property. It’s red colour makes it very visible and hard to miss and also makes it a great photo spot. The Sanmon gate (I must admit, I’m really confused with all theses strange names, I’m not really sure if Sangedatsumon and Sanmon are the same, really the gates should have name plates) has three sections symbolising three stages a person needs to pass through to achieve nirvana.

On the way from the station to the temple there's another gate, which looks really interesting, surrounded by highscrapers, with Tokyo Tower in the background.

To make the contrast even more visible, there are also traditional Japanese houses on the road.

Post about the temple ground to be added soon, so stay tuned!