There's not really much reason to visit the Uguisudani district of Tokyo, to be honest, but if you do find yourself there, you can pass the time exploring the temples in the residential area north of the station. One of these is Senju-in, worth looking at for its serene atmosphere and a couple of unusual features interesting to temple-spotters like me.
On the street near the entrance there's a charming small statue of the Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy, and there's a rather more worn Buddhist statue on the left near the gate as you enter. The grounds are pleasantly leafy, with two nice lanterns, an elderly pagoda, and a main hall that has an attractively detailed wooden carving of birds, which unfortunately didn't photograph well enough to show you.
Go to the rear past the small rock garden populated by Buddhist reliefs and there's the graveyard, where you'll find ancient grave markers, another statue or two and, behind a closed gate, what looks like a traditional Japanese garden, neatly laid out around a bubbling carp pond. I suspect this is private, but you never know...
Getting there
The temple is a few minutes' walk from the south exit of Uguisudani station, on the JR Yamanote line and the JR Keihin-Tohoku line.
