Top > Gardens Overview > Famous Gardens > Kyoto Area > Tenryū-ji Tenryū-ji（天龍寺） The temple was founded by shogun Ashikaga Takauji in 1339, primarily to venerate Gautama Buddha, and its first head priest was Musō Soseki. Construction was completed in 1345. As a temple related to both the Ashikaga family...Continue Reading
Top > Gardens Overview > Famous Gardens > Kyoto Area > Shisen-dō Shisen-dō（詩仙堂） Shisen-dō is is a temple of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism. It was built in the early Edo period (1641) as a retirement villa for Ishikawa Jōzan. Ishikawa Jōzan was a poet and calligrapher. Feel free...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 > 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
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
