Top > Gardens Overview > Secret Gardens > Kyoto Area > Rokuō-in Rokuō-in （鹿王院庭園） In western Kyoto, near the Arashiyama hills, lies the Rinzai Zen temple Rokuō-in. It was built in 1380. The small Zen garden has a tsukubai, trimmed shrubs and some great maples. In fact, the best season to...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Secret Gardens > Kyoto Area > Reiun-in (Tōfuku-ji) Reiun-in (Tōfuku-ji)（霊雲院 東福寺） Reiun-in is a sub temple of Tofuku-ji temple of the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. It was built in 1526, and the gardens are said to have been built in 1543 (Muromachi period). Over...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Secret Gardens > Kyoto Area > Ōhashi-ke Ōhashi-ke（大橋家庭園） The Ōhashi-ke garden is a private garden in the traditional Fushimi Inari neighborhood in southern Kyoto. It has a special surprise for its visitors: A Suikinkutsu (水琴窟), a musical instrument in the garden. A Suikinkutsu is a...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Secret Gardens > Kyoto Area > Nishimura-ke and Umetsuji-ke Nishimura-ke and Umetsuji-ke （西村家 梅辻家 社家町） The Nishimura residence and Umetsuji residence are houses that were built for priests of the nearby Kamigamo Shrine. This type of house is called Sha-ke. The term Shake (社家) consists of the Chinese...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Secret Gardens > Kyoto Area > Ninna-ji Ninna-ji（仁和寺） Ninna-ji is one of Kyoto’s oldest temples. It was founded in 888 (Heian period) by emperor Oda. From that time on until the end of the Edo period (1603-1868), the position of the temple’s head priest was...Continue Reading
虎の子渡し – Tiger family crossing a river 碧巌録に示された臥龍 – Sleeping dragon 星座カシオペヤ – The constellation Cassiopeia 心の字 – Heart character 京都盆地を囲む五山 – Five mountains surrounding Kyoto 光の反射板 – Reflecting of Light 満月を巡る – The moon phases around the full moon Today I want to dig deeper into the manifold interpretations...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Secret Gardens > Kyoto Area > Namikawa-ke Namikawa-ke（並河家） Nowadays, the Namikawa residence is a museum of Cloisonné objects by the artist Namikawa. He used to live and work in this house. Because he became internationally successful after exhibiting at the World Fair in Paris in...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Secret Gardens > Kyoto Area > Mirei Shigemori Garden Museum Mirei Shigemori Garden Museum（重森三玲邸） The Shigemori Residence is a traditional town house (Machi-ya) dating from the middle Edo period (1789). It has a garden and two tea ceremony pavilions, which both were designed by the...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Famous Gardens > Kyoto Area > Kōsei-in Kōsei-in（廣誠院） A small temple of the Rinzai school of Buddhism. The interior has wonderful Fusuma-e (screen paintings) and a view on the walled garden. Taking pictures is not allowed inside the temple, but the garden is definitely worth...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Secret Gardens > Kyoto Area > Konchi-in Konchi-in（金地院 南禅寺） Konchi-in is a sub-temple of the Nanzen-ji temple complex. The temple was built in the early 15th century by shogun Ashikaga Yoshimochi (足利義持). In 1605, it was relocated from northern Kyoto to its present location inside the...Continue Reading
