Tokyo / Ginza / Temple

Tsukiji Hongwanji

築地本願寺 つきじほんがんじ

A Buddhist temple built like an Indian stone palace, with a pipe organ and a breakfast café.

Worth itArchitecture · History · Free · Early morning · Rainy day

When the temple burned in the 1923 earthquake, the architect Chuta Ito — who had walked from Japan to Turkey studying Asian architecture — rebuilt it in 1934 as a stone building of Indian Buddhist form, with lotus domes, stained glass, animal carvings on the staircase and, inside, a pipe organ used for monthly recitals. It belongs to the Jodo Shinshu sect, whose services are open to anyone. The café in the annex serves an eighteen-dish breakfast named after the sutra's eighteenth vow.

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A hand-drawn sketch for orientation — each place links to an exact map.
Tip
It is next to the Tsukiji outer market — come here first, while the market crowd is still eating.
Best time
Morning, before the market next door fills up.
Allow
40 min
Station
Tsukiji (Hibiya line), exit 1, directly outside
Official site — hours, prices, closures
tsukijihongwanji.jp · Map

Appears in

In this area: Ginza

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