Chion-in is the main temple of the Buddhist jodo-Shu, which in the XII century was founded by the monk Honan, later dubbed the "Great teacher of perfect light". The doctrine became very popular among ordinary people in Japan, today Jodo-Shu is one of the largest Buddhist sects in the country.

The temple was built by the disciple of Honan in memory of his teacher in 1234. Four centuries later the temple was badly damaged by fire but was restored by order of the Tokugawa Shogunate Iemitsu who ruled in the first half of XVII century. During his reign the temple was built the massive gates Sammon (the highest in Japan, height 24 meters) and appeared in guest houses. On the beams of the roofs of the representative of the Tokugawa ordered to portray their family signs, and since the appearance of the Church has not changed.

It is possible that the fire temple protects the so-called "lost umbrella" - a subject that is behind one of the beams of the main building of the temple. The skeleton of an umbrella half stands at five-foot height. It is visible to visitors, but the human hand is not touching it for several centuries. There are several versions of how the umbrella was under the roof. On one of them, the umbrella was left by the carpenter, to protect the temple from evil spirits and fires. According to another version, the umbrella left a white Fox as a token of gratitude for built new home. It is possible that the umbrella was just forgotten. However, the Japanese themselves cherish this romantic legend.

Such mysterious stories related to the chion-in temple, a few – in addition to the umbrella, in the temple there are six subjects with unusual properties or mystical values. So, in the main building of MeeGo the floorboards in the corridor called "Nightingale" because they are loud creak, even if they come slightly. The ends of the floorboards bound metal that RUB against each other and emit a loud sound. Creaking floor – one of the security measures taken in Japanese Medieval. On one of the paintings in the temple painted cat, a look which is aimed at the visitor, in whatever point of space, he is not. Another legend has brought the sparrows that were painted on one of the walls of the temple. Birds were depicted so skillfully that supposedly came to life and flew away. In addition, the Church is home to spoon over 30 kg and a length of about 2. 5 meters – it symbolizes the mercy of Amida Buddha. Here is the rock on which once grew bahcevan plant. According to one legend, the stone blocks up the entrance to the underground corridor leading to the Nijo castle, in another version, the stone is a fragment of a meteorite. There is also a memorial of a married couple of carpenters who erected the gate Sammon and committed suicide when it was revealed that construction spending exceeded planned spending.

Another attraction of the temple is a massive bell weighing 74 tons. So he made a noise, requires strength 17 monks.