Nanzen-ji is the grandest Zen temple in Kyoto and the one with the strangest surprise in its grounds — a brick aqueduct that looks borrowed from Rome. The walk is a tight loop of the complex and its subtemples, finished on an old railway incline that turns to blossom in spring. It's compact, mostly flat, and best in the morning quiet.
From Keage it's a short walk to the Sanmon, the colossal gate a kabuki thief is supposed to have praised the view from; pay the fee and climb it. Behind the gate, the Hojo keeps a raked-gravel teien (garden) and the stone arrangement called the tigers crossing — sit on the veranda and let it work.
Then the surprise: the Suirokaku aqueduct, Meiji-era brick arches carrying Lake Biwa's water straight through the Zen wood. Walk up beside it; the channel's still wet. Take in the quieter subtemples — Nanzen-in under the arches, Konchi-in with its Enshu garden — then climb to the Keage Incline, the old boat railway, rails in the ground, and follow it back to the Tozai line.
