Heirin-ji

 temple, forest, interesting place, buddhist temple, natural monument

Heiri-jin was originally the Matsudaira family temple founded in 1375 at Iwatsuki in the fief of Oshi in eastern Saitama Prefecture. When Matsudaira Nobutsuna successfully put down the Christian rebellion in 1637-38 at Shimabara (Kyushu), he was awarded a new, much larger, fief at Kawagoe, including the Nobidome area - then barren land. Successful again in the construction of Tamagawa Josui, he was awarded with permission to take 30% of the canal water to irrigate Nobidome. With pride of his honorable position as the Lord of Kawagoe - the satellite city of Edo - Nobutsuna wished to move his family temple here but died before he could do it. His son, Terutsuna, fulfilled his father's wish in 1664, and created a garden around the temple using the water from Nobidome canal. The double-tiered Nio Gate and the prayer hall are of that period. The first gate was built in the mid-19th century, and the main hall in the late 19th century.

In the forest, east from the main hall, there's a whole "village" of tombs of Matsudaira family.

The forest of Heirin-ji is a bird sanctuary and a designated national monument. A great variety of deciduous and evergreen trees, including keyaki (zelkova), kunugi (oak), cherry, camellia, matsu (pine) and kumazawa (low striped bamboo) can be seen here.