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The garden in front of Daihojo (aresidential area of priests) of Nanzenji Temple is commonly called “Toranokowatashi no Niwa” and is said to have been created by Enshu Kobori.
The garden of Nanzen-in Temple retains remnants of the late Kamakura period and is in the style of Chisen Kaiyu (pond strolling garden), a style representative of the late Kamakura period. The garden surrounded by deep woods is wrapped in profound silence. It is also said to have been created by former Emperor Kameyama and was designated as one of Kyoto’s top three spots of historical importance and scenic beauty early on.
At the far end on the observer’s left, there is a waterfall stone arrangement that represents the skills of the gardeners of the time. The upper pond called Sogenchi is in the shape of a dragon, in the center of which the Isle of the Immortals is created. In the lower pond, there is Shinji Island. According to old documents, there were cherry trees transplanted from Yoshino, reeds from Namba and maple trees from Tatsuta, while and frogs brought from Ide were living in the pond. This is a garden to appreciate in silence.
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Shoseien is the enclave of Shinshu Honbyo (Higashi Honganji Temple), the head temple of the Shinshu Otani sect of Buddhism and also called Kikokutei, as the area was surrounded by trifoliate orange trees.
This site is said to be the remains of Rokujokawara-no-Inenchi, which Minamoto no Toru, the prince of Emperor Saga and Minister of the Left, created by modeling after the scenery of Shiogama in Ooshu (the northeastern part of Japan) and to which sea water was brought in from Namba in the early Heian period (at the end of the 9th century). Later in 1641, the current site, including part of the remains, was donated to the Temple by Tokugawa Iemitsu. In 1653, a garden was created by Ishikawa Jozan on this land as requested by Sennyo Shonin, the 13th Chief of Higashiyama Honganji Temple, which is the origin of Shoseien.
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| Kaiuso is the site where Nanzenji Tacchu (a sub-temple of Nanzenji Temple) was located. It is a big garden with an area of about 6000 tsubo (approximately 2ha), which Katsutaro Inahata, a famous businessman in the dyeing and movie businesses in the Meiji period, had Jihei Ogawa (Ueji), one of the renowend landscape gardeners of the Meiji period, create. With the Higashiyama Mountains in the background, the garden overlooks the entire city of Kyoto. |
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This is a garden in the karesansui style (dry landscape garden) in Konkaikomyoji Temple, the head temple of the Jodo sect of Buddhism. It depicts the life of Priest Honen and other related people with stones of varied sizes and was created as a monument commemorating the 800th anniversary of Honen after his death. The garden is divided into three parts of “childhood,” “ascetic training days” and the “opening of the Jodo sect and the rise of Konkaikomyoji Temple.” |
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This is a garden in the kaiyushiki style (a pond strolling garden), which was created as part of a project commemorating the 1200th anniversary of the relocation of the capital to Kyoto in Kansai Science City Commemorative Park (Keihanna Commemorative Park). The garden called Suikeien provides not only a Japanese garden, but also seasonal Japanese agricultural sceneries comprising a rural landscape, terraced rice fields and a village forest. Scarlet-tinged maple leaves viewed from Kangetsukyo Bridge unfold yet another view different from other garden views of Kyoto.
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The garden in Murinan was created with Higashiyama (Higashi Mountains) as its background, where water drawn from the Biwako Canal leisurely flows in a curve. At the east end of the garden is a three-step waterfall modeled after the one in the Sanpoin Garden of Daigoji Temple. It is in the chisenkaiyu style with a pond and lawn created by Jihei Ogawa (Ueji), a renowned landscape gardener of the Meiji period. As one of the beautiful gardens of the Meiji period, it was designated as a National Place of Scenic Beauty in 1951.
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