Top > Gardens Overview > Famous Gardens > Kyoto Area > Kōzan-ji (Ikō-an) Kōzan-ji (Ikō-an)（高山寺, 遺香庵） Kōzan-ji is one of the oldest temples in the larger Kyoto area. It belongs to the Shingon sect of Buddhism and is said to have been founded first in 744 by the imperial orders...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Famous Gardens > Kyoto Area > Kōrin-in (Daitoku-ji) Kōrin-in (Daitoku-ji)（興臨院） Kōrin-in is a sub-temple of Daitoku-ji. It was founded in 1520 as a family temple for the Hatekeyama family. The temple building (Hōjō, 方丈, abbot’s quarter) built in the Shoin architectural style of the Muromachi period....Continue Reading
The next garden element on my list is the stone lantern. Everyone knows the beautiful withered lanterns made of natural or hewn rocks. Today I want to talk about their origin and use in the Japanese garden. Origin Lanterns weren‘t always a garden element. They were invented in a religious...Continue Reading
The next garden element on my list is the water basin! I guess, the best-known examples for these water basins are the ones in front of Japanese shrines but also the ones in Japanese tea gardens. Both are meant to symbolically purify oneself before entering a special place. To fulfill...Continue Reading
What I always tried to find out was the relationship between the Treasure Ship (takarabune) with the Seven Lucky Gods (shichifukujin), and the Ship Stone (funaishi). Now that I stuck at home, I have time to investigate! Let’s start with a more or less short explanation of these three:...Continue Reading
My first trip to Kyoto was back in April 2006. On my list were many famous temples including Daitoku-ji. However, I didn’t visit the Zuiho-in sub-temple back then. In 2014 and 2015, I visited Kyoto again, also Daitoku-ji, but only for special autumn openings and Zuiho-in was not on that...Continue Reading
Karikomi is a special design and pruning technique in a Japanese garden which is often seen done with plants of the Rhododendron family in Japan. It is separated into the usual karikomi and o-karikomi – a larger element in the garden put together by more than one shrub. What I...Continue Reading
This post was a request by one of our followers on Instagram. If you want me to cover a special topic, feel free to contact me! Moss is commonly seen as a signature plant for a Japanese garden. Although not every Japanese garden will be covered with moss, it is...Continue Reading
Requested by one of our readers was an article about maintenance works throughout the year. I thought it would be nice to make a monthly series out of this. This is part 12, in which I talk about the works in December. You can find the other parts here: 1, 2, 3,...Continue Reading
The Kyoto Imperial Palace is a special place. A place full of tradition, elegance, beauty and national treasures. The maintenance of gardens in Kyoto is still highly rated, but even here, the Kyoto Imperial Palace is special. Today I would like to introduce two traditional techniques, which are still conducted...Continue Reading
