Daiun-in Temple, founded in 1587, initially stood at the Nijo New Imperial Palace and became a temple of imperial patronage in 1590. In 1972, it was relocated to its current site.
One of the temple's most remarkable features is Gion-kaku, a 36-meter-high tower built in 1928 for the prominent Japanese businessman Okura Kihachiro. Designed by Ito Chuta, a professor at Tokyo Imperial University’s Faculty of Engineering, Gion-kaku draws inspiration from the ornate floats of the Gion Festival. The tower is notable for its unique architecture, which includes a two-story stonework base and a copper roof topped with a copper column, crowned by a crane spreading its wings.
Gion-kaku tower
Due to its roof made of copper plates, Gion-Kaku is sometimes also referred to as the Copper Pavilion, echoing Kyoto's famous Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji) and Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku-ji).
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