Chion-in Temple is the main Buddhist schools Jodo-shu, which is founded in the XII century monk Honen, later nicknamed "the great teachers of the perfect world." He founded the doctrine has become very popular among the ordinary people of Japan today Jodo-shu - one of the largest Buddhist sects in the country.

The temple was built by a disciple of Honen in memory of his teacher in 1234. After four centuries, the church was severely damaged by fire, but was restored by the order of the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu, who ruled in the first half of the XVII century. During his reign, the temple was built massive gates Sammon (the highest in Japan, height 24 meters) and there were guest houses. On the roof beams representative of the Tokugawa ordered the family to portray their characters and since then has not changed the face of the temple.

It is possible that the fire temple protects the so-called "forgotten umbrella" - a subject that is of one of the beams of the main building of the temple. The skeleton of the umbrella half speaks at five-foot height. It is visible to visitors, but no human hand touched him for a few centuries. There are several versions of how an umbrella was under roof. On one of them, an umbrella left the carpenter, to protect the temple from evil spirits and fires. According to another version, an umbrella left white fox in gratitude for the building of a new home. It is possible that an umbrella was just forgotten. However, the Japanese themselves cherish the romantic legend.

Such mysterious stories related to the Chion-in temple, a few - except an umbrella in the church there are six objects with unusual properties or mystical significance .  So, in the main building Mieydo floorboards in the corridor called the "nightingale" for what they squeak loudly, even if they come a little .  The ends of the boards bound in metal that rub against each other and emit a loud sound .  The creaking floor - one of the security measures taken by the Japanese Middle Ages .  One of the paintings in the church drawn cat eyes which are aimed at visitors, no matter where in the room it was not to .  Another legend "revive" the sparrows that were painted on the walls of the temple of one of the .  Birds have been depicted so skillfully that supposedly came to life and flew off .  In addition, the church kept the spoon weighing more than 30 kg and a length of about 2, 5 meters - it symbolizes the compassion of the Buddha Amida .  Yet here is the rock on which one has grown melon plants .  According to one legend, the stone locks the entrance to the underground passage that leads to the Nijo Castle, in another version, the stone - it is a piece of fallen meteorite .  There is also a plaque commemorating the married couple of carpenters, who erected the gate Sammon and committed suicide when it became clear that construction spending exceeded planned spending .

Another attraction of the temple is a massive bell weighing 74 tons. So he made a sound, it takes the power of 17 monks.