Rinnō-ji Temple — a very well-restored temple from the 15th century — seems pretty unassuming at first.
It’s nice, but is it go-out-of-your-way nice?
But then you pay 300 yen and go back into the garden, and yeah: it’s definitely go-out-of-your-way nice.
It was pretty stunning even in winter, so I can’t even imagine how nice it would be in the summer.
The three story pagoda is quite striking.
I was also able to get quite close to a heron, which is a pretty majestic bird.
Plus, I basically had the whole place to myself, which was nice.
Location: 1-chōme-14-1 Kitayama, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 981-0931