Ujigami Jinja

Uji’s other World Heritage site plays second fiddle to the more dazzling Byodo-in, but it’s worth a look while you’re here. The Main Hall is the oldest shrine building in Japan. Even though the precise date of construction is unknown, a team of researchers recently dated the wood back to the mid 11th century, making it contemporaneous with Byodo-in. In the grounds lies kirihara-mizu, the only remaining spring of what was once a septet of famously pure water sources in Uji.