The entrance gate to Gio-ji Temple in Kyoto [OC]

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1. For anyone who’s never been, Gio-ji is a small and often overlooked temple in Arashiyama. It has a lovely moss garden and an interesting history. The temple was named after Gio, a dancer from long ago who fell in love with the Heike Clan’s powerful leader Taira-no-Kiyomori. When he ended their relationship, Gio retreated to this temple to spend the rest of her life as a Buddhist priestess, along with her sister, mother, and another of Kiyomori’s spurned lovers.