Kiyomizu-dera Temple

Perched on the forested hillside of eastern Kyoto, Kiyomizu-dera seems to float above the city like a vision from a woodblock print. Its massive wooden stage, built without a single nail, juts dramatically over a ravine carpeted with cherry and maple. For over a millennium, pilgrims have sipped from the Otowa Waterfall below, each stream promising a different blessing.