Hiraizu­mi — Tem­ples, Gar­dens and Archae­o­log­i­cal Sites Rep­re­sent­ing the Bud­dhist Pure Land&nbsp,comprises five sites, includ­ing the sacred Mount Kinkeisan. It fea­tures ves­tiges of gov­ern­ment offices dat­ing from the 11th and 12th cen­turies when Hiraizu­mi was the admin­is­tra­tive cen­tre of the north­ern realm of Japan and rivalled Kyoto. The realm was based on the cos­mol­o­gy of Pure Land Bud­dhism, which spread to Japan in the 8th cen­tu­ry. It rep­re­sent­ed the pure land of Bud­dha that peo­ple aspire to after death, as well as peace of mind in this life. In com­bi­na­tion with indige­nous Japan­ese nature wor­ship and Shin­to­ism, Pure Land Bud­dhism devel­oped a con­cept of plan­ning and gar­den design that was unique to Japan.