Planning a Trip to Japan: A Guide for Garden Enthusiast Planning a trip to Japan is an exciting journey, especially if you’re passionate about gardens. Here’s a comprehensive Japan garden travel guide to help you design the perfect itinerary, focusing on the best seasons, destinations, and accommodations for your garden-themed...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Famous Gardens > Kyoto Area > Shinju-an (Daitoku-ji) Shinju-an (Daitoku-ji)（真珠庵） Shinju-an was founded in 1491, in honor of the Zen priest Ikkyu, who was the head priest of Daitoku-ji from 1474- 1481. Ikkyu played the main role in reviving the Daitoku-ji temple complex after its...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Famous Gardens > Kyoto Area > Zuihō-in (Daitoku-ji) Zuihō-in (Daitoku-ji)（瑞峯院） Zuihō-in is an extraordinary temple in Kyoto: It was founded by daimyo Otomo, who was one of the early Christians in Japan. He founded the temple as his family temple; he and his wife are...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Famous Gardens > Kyoto Area > Ryōgen-in (Daitoku-ji) Ryōgen-in (Daitoku-ji)（大徳寺龍源院） Ryōgen-in is one of Daitoku-ji’s twenty-two sub-temples. It is a rather small temple, but has several superlatives to offer: → One of its gardens (Tōkekiko) is Japan’s smallest garden (supposedly). → Another of its gardens...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Famous Gardens > Kyoto Area > Ōbai-in (Daitoku-ji) Ōbai-in (Daitoku-ji)（黄梅院） Ōbai-in is one of the secret sub-temples of Daitoku-ji and has one of Japan’s best-designed Japanese gardens. It is only open for a few weeks in November, which is also the best time for visiting....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
Top > Gardens Overview > Famous Gardens > Kyoto Area > Daisen-in (Daitoku-ji) Daisen-in (Daitoku-ji)（大徳寺、大仙院） Do you want to experience Zen Buddhist philosophy first hand and meet a zen priest that makes you laugh? Do you want to find out where key persons of the Japanese history have lived and...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
Needless to say, we were very eager to start our tour of gardens as soon as we arrived in Kyoto. After depositing our bags in the rather festive hotel, we hurried off to catch the bus to our first stop. There was a slight drizzling rain, but it didn’t dampen our...Continue Reading
