Kurama-dera Temple is a beautiful Buddhist temple located on the foothills of Mt. Kurama in the north of Kyoto, surrounded by beautiful forests and mountain rivers. It was founded in the 8th century AD and has been through many fires but has been restored nonetheless.

It is actually so large that it has a cable car running from the entrance at the bottom that takes you to the top of the temple. It costs 200 JPY one way and takes about 5 minutes. Entry to the cable car is on the second floor of a small building right after the temple's gates.

You can also go up by foot (30-45 minutes), but the hike is nothing too special, so personally, I recommend riding the cable car. Another cool quirk of this temple is that it is associated with Tengu - a legendary creature in Japanese folklore. Around the area, you will notice a lot of red face masks with a long nose portraying Tengu.