Byodo-in, Kyoto prefecture

SOURCE: Courtesy of Japan National Tourism Organization, used with permission.

Byodo-in, a Buddhist temple originally built in 998 in the Heian period as a rural villa of Fujiwara no Michinaga, one of the most powerful members of the Fujiwara clan, was changed to a temple in 1052 by Fujiwara no Yorimichi.

The so-called Phoenix Hall (or Amida Hall), constructed in 1053, is the only remaining original building, and so significant culturally, that Japan displays it on its 10 yen coin.

UNESCO listed the building as a World Heritage Site, as part of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto" in December 1994.

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