Higashi Honganji, officially known as the “Eastern Temple of the Original Vow,” is one of the two head temples of the Jōdo Shinshū school of Buddhism in Kyoto. Located just a short walk from Kyoto Station, it was established in the early 17th century by Tokugawa Ieyasu, who deliberately split the Honganji sect into eastern and western branches to prevent any single temple from becoming too powerful.