Kiyomizu dera through time

Kyoto 1978–2024 37 photos of this spot

37 photographs taken at the same spot in Kyoto, spanning 1978–2024 — 1 of them from before 1980. Line them up and watch the place change.

Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto, Japan, photographed in November 1978. Founded in the 8th century, the temple's wooden stage is built without nails on a hillside overlooking the city.

Kyoto, Kyomizu-dera Temple 1978 Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto, Japan, photographed in November 1978. Founded in the 8th century, the temple's wooden stage is built without nails on a hillside overlooking the city.

Kyoto, Kiyomizu-dera Temple 1996 Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple founded in 778 on the wooded slopes of eastern Kyoto, is pictured in this 1996 photograph. Its wooden stage, built without nails, extends out over the hillside and offers views across the city.

Kiyomizu temple 清水寺 2007 Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan, founded in the 8th century and rebuilt in its present form in 1633. The temple is best known for its wooden stage, built without nails, that juts out over the hillside below.

Kyoto in 2007 2007 Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto, Japan, seen from another angle of its hillside grounds. Founded in the 8th century, the temple takes its name from the Otowa waterfall that runs beneath its main hall, and is one of Kyoto's most visited Buddhist sites.

Kiyomizu-dera 清水寺 2007 Kiyomizu-dera, photographed in Kyoto in 2007, is a centuries-old Buddhist temple set on the wooded slopes of the city's Higashiyama district and remains one of Kyoto's most visited historic sites.

清水寺 Kiyomizu Temple 2007 Another 2007 view of Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto, Japan captures the wooden temple complex built into the hillside of the city's Higashiyama district.

Kyoto in 2008 2008 A street scene in Kyoto, Japan, photographed in 2008. Kyoto served as Japan's imperial capital for over a thousand years and retains numerous temples, shrines, and traditional districts amid its modern cityscape.

Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture; September 2008 Kiyomizu-dera's wooden stage juts from the hillside of eastern Kyoto in this photograph from September 2008. Founded in the eighth century, the Buddhist temple is built without the use of nails and is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto UNESCO listing.

Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture; September 2008 Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto, photographed in September 2008. Founded in the 8th century, the temple is known for its large wooden stage built without nails, which extends out over the surrounding hillside.

Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture; September 2008 Another view of Kiyomizu-dera in eastern Kyoto, taken in September 2008. The temple complex sits on the wooded slopes of Mount Otowa overlooking the city and draws large numbers of visitors year-round.

Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture; September 2008 A further photograph of Kiyomizu-dera in eastern Kyoto from September 2008, showing part of the temple grounds that have drawn pilgrims and visitors to the hillside site for centuries.

清水寺 本堂 Kiyomizudera Temple 2009 The main hall of Kiyomizu-dera, one of Kyoto's oldest and most visited temples, photographed in 2009. Founded in 778, the wooden hall is known for its wide veranda built without nails, supported on a hillside framework of pillars.

Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Kyoto 2010 Kiyomizu-dera, a wooden temple built on a hillside in eastern Kyoto, Japan, photographed in 2010. The temple's main hall is known for its large veranda supported on wooden pillars.

Kiyomizu dera 2011 Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple founded in the 8th century on the wooded slopes above Kyoto, appears here in an April 2011 photograph. The temple is one of the city's most visited historic sites and part of Kyoto's UNESCO-listed monuments.

Kiyomizutera(sanjyutou) 2011 The three-story pagoda, or sanju-no-to, standing within the grounds of Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto, photographed in 2011. Its vermilion-painted timber frame is a familiar sight within the temple's hillside precinct.

Kiyomizutera(Kyomizu no Butai) 2011 Kiyomizu-dera's main hall stage, known as the butai, extends out over the hillside on wooden pillars assembled without nails. This 2011 photograph captures the structure from within the temple grounds in Kyoto.

清水寺 2012 Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple on the wooded hills of eastern Kyoto founded in the 8th century and famous for its wooden stage built without nails. Photographed in 2012.

View from Kiyomizudera 2012 A view over Kyoto from the grounds of Kiyomizu-dera, the hillside temple whose terrace looks out across the city's Higashiyama district. Photographed in 2012.

Veranda and main building, Kyoto Tower in the distance 2013 A veranda and building in Kyoto with Kyoto Tower visible in the background, photographed in 2013. Completed in 1964, the tower rises near Kyoto Station and remains one of the city's few modern high-rise landmarks amid its historic skyline.

"Pure water" spring 2013 The Otowa Waterfall spring at Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto, photographed in 2013. The temple's name literally means 'pure water temple,' after this spring, whose three separate streams are traditionally said to grant different blessings to those who drink from them.

Hondo of Kiyomizudera Temple 2013 The main hall (hondo) of Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto, seen in 2013. Built without a single nail on a wooden stage supported by tall pillars, the hall is part of a temple complex founded in 778 and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Illuminated Hondo of Kiyomizudera Temple 2014 The illuminated Hondo, or main hall, of Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto, Japan, photographed in March 2014. The UNESCO World Heritage temple is renowned for its wooden stage built without nails.

JAP Kyoto Kiyomizu-dera 2014 Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto, Japan, photographed in 2014. Founded in the early Heian period, it is one of the city's most visited Buddhist temples and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Illuminated Kiyomizudera Temple 2014 Kiyomizu-dera temple illuminated at night, photographed in Kyoto, Japan, in March 2014. Seasonal light-up events draw visitors to the hillside temple after dark.

View of Otowa Waterfall and Okunoin from stage of Kiyomizudera Temple 2014 Otowa Waterfall and the Okunoin precinct are seen from the wooden stage of Kiyomizudera Temple in Kyoto in 2014. The temple's stage, built without nails, is one of the best-known viewpoints over the surrounding hillside.

Bell Tower of Kiyomizudera Temple 2014 The bell tower of Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto, Japan, photographed in 2014. Temple bell towers of this kind traditionally house a large bronze bell rung on ceremonial occasions.

Sanjunoto, Kiyomizu-dera 2015 The Sanjunoto is a three-story pagoda within the grounds of Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto, Japan. This photograph from 2015 shows the pagoda, one of several structures on the temple's hillside grounds.

Kiyomizu dera 2015 Kiyomizu-dera, founded in the 8th century on a hillside in eastern Kyoto, is one of Japan's best-known Buddhist temples. This photograph was taken in 2015.

Kiyomizu dera 2015 This 2015 photograph shows another view of Kiyomizu-dera, the 8th-century Buddhist temple on a hillside in eastern Kyoto, Japan, known for the wooden stage that juts out over the slope below.

A Nightlit Kiyomizudera Temple In Kyoto 2015 Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto, Japan, is illuminated at night in this photograph from 2015. The temple, founded in the 8th century on a hillside in eastern Kyoto, holds seasonal night illuminations that draw visitors after dark.

View of Koyasunoto Tower from stage of Kiyomizudera Temple 2015 The Koyasu Pagoda, associated with prayers for safe childbirth, is seen from the main stage of Kiyomizu-dera temple in this 2015 photograph taken in Kyoto, Japan.

Kyoto, Kiyomizu-dera 2015 This 2015 photograph shows Kiyomizu-dera, the hillside Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto, Japan, founded in the 8th century and named for the Otowa waterfall on its grounds.

Kyoto 2016 Kyoto, Japan, photographed in 2016. Long the imperial capital of Japan, the city retains an unusually high concentration of historic shrines and temples within its modern urban fabric.

Kiyomizu-dera, Kyōto-shi, Japan (Unsplash) 2017 Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto, a Buddhist temple founded in the 8th century and known for its large wooden stage built without nails, projecting over the hillside below.

Otowa waterfall, Kiyomizu-dera 2018 The Otowa waterfall at Kiyomizu-dera, the UNESCO-listed Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto. Visitors traditionally drink from its three separate streams, each said to bring a different blessing.

Kiyomizu Dera In Autumn 2018 Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto photographed during autumn 2018, when its wooden hillside terrace draws visitors for views over maple foliage across the Higashiyama district.

Kyoto in 2024 2024 A 2024 photograph taken in Kyoto, part of a series recording scenes across the city, the former imperial capital known for its temples, shrines, and traditional wooden machiya townhouses.