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
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 > Famous Gardens > Kyoto Area > Ryōgin-an (Tōfuku-ji) Ryōgin-an (Tōfuku-ji)（龍吟庵） The Ryōgin-an is famous for its three gardens designed by the modern Japanese garden designer Shigemori Mirei in 1964. In contrast to the gardens, the temple and its buildings are really old. At first, it...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 > Ryōan-ji Ryōan-ji（龍安寺） Ryōan-ji is maybe the most famous rock garden of Japan. Ryoan-ji was built on the grounds of a villa of the Fujiwara clan in the Heian period (794-1185). The deputy of the shogun and warlord Hosokawa Katsumoto...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Famous Gardens > Kyoto Area > Nanzen-ji Nanzen-ji（南禅寺） Nanzen-ji is the name of a temple and the surrounding temple complex at the foot of Kyoto’s eastern mountains (Higashi-yama). It was built in the Heian period (794-1185) on the grounds of Tennō Kameyama’s detached palace. The...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Famous Gardens > Kamakura Area > Meigetsu-in Meigetsu-in（明月院） Every year in June, after the rain season has begun, and the air gets hot and damp, thousands of visitors from Tokyo and Kamakura surge to the Meigetsu-in temple in Kita-Kamakura. This is the time, when the...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Famous Gardens > Kyoto Area > The Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji) The Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji)（金閣寺 鹿苑寺） Kinkaku-ji (the more popular name for its actual name Rokuon-ji – 鹿苑寺) is one of the most famous temples in Japan and a definite must-see on you Kyoto bucket list. The...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Famous Gardens > Kyoto Area > The Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku-ji) The Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku-ji)（銀閣寺 （慈照寺）） The second most famous temple in Kyōto and little brother of Kinkaku-ji is the Ginkaku-ji on the eastern hills of Kyōto. It was built by Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the grandson of the...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
