Japanese zen gardens

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Byodo-in

The Byodo-in at Uji faces a garden intended to simulate the Western Paradise of Amida Buddhism. This sort of Amida garden was not uncommon in the Heian Period, and remnants of such gardens can be found at sites like Saiho-ji, but only here at Uji can one see an extant Heian building confronting its pond garden. The central chapel and its flanking pavilions were originally part of a country estate built in the early eleventh century by Fujiwara Michinaga and remodelled by his son Yorimichi. The style of the architecture is Chinese�as one might expect in a Buddhist structure of the time�but the juxtaposition of a pond garden with pavilions connected by roofed corridors is an echo of the noble villas and gardens of the Heian Period. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

Chishaku-in

Chishaku-in is a temple of the Chizan School of Shingon Buddhism. Erected in 1585 over the site of an earlier temple founded by Hideyoshi, it is most famous for its screens of cherry and maple trees painted by Hasegawa Tohaku. Most of the garden dates from the 17th Century, and was designed by Zuio Hakunyo, Chishaku-ins chief priest. It takes the form of a long narrow pond bordered on the east by a steeply sloping hill. Designed to be viewed from a number of points on the veranda of the abbot's residence as well as from a small adjacent tea house, the garden evokes a mountain landscape complete with cascade, mountain bridge, and satsuki pruned to simulate rolling hills. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden

Daikaku-ji

Daikaku-ji occupies the general area of a detached palace erected by the Emperor Saga (d.84). In 876, Sagas villa was converted to a Shingon Buddhist temple. None of the original buildings remains, and the specific site of the temple is not exactly that of Sagas villa, but the current structures retain the general appearance of a shinden style residence and its associated gardens. The five-acre lake contains two islands and a number of rock formations. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

Daisen-in

The Daisen-in was founded in 150 by the Zen priest Kogaku Sotan (1464-1548) upon his retirement as abbot of Daitoku-ji. The hojo, his residence, was completed in 151, and the most famous of the gardens that surround that structure probably dates from the same period. While the theory that other early Zen gardens were intended to imitate Chinese landscape paintings or their Japanese equivalents is open to question, there can be little doubt that this was the intention at the Daisen-in. The garden that flanks two sides of the hojo is a miniature landscape whose vertical rocks suggest the mountains from which a waterfall and its resulting river flow. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

Ginkaku-ji

The temple of Jisho-ji is more popularly known as Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Pavilion. Both the pavilion and the garden were part of the retirement villa of Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the eighth Shogun of the Muromachi Period, who began construction in 148. The complex became the very center of Japanese aesthetic concerns during the eight years of Yoshimasa's residency, particularly in the areas of art collecting, flower arranging, and the tea ceremony. Indeed, the location of the villa on the lower slope of the foothills bordering Kyoto on the east gave its name�Higashiyama or Eastern Mountains�to the Zen-inspired culture of the late fifteenth century. The pond garden is based loosely on that of Saiho-ji, a garden which Yoshimasa passionately admired and often visited. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

Joruri-ji

Although Joruri-ji as a religious foundation dates back to the eighth century, the main hall is an early twelfth-century structure, and was moved to its present location in 1157 (its original location is unknown). It was at that time that the pond garden located to the east of the hall was constructed. The main hall, famous for its nine statues of the Amida Buddha, represents the Western Paradise, or Pure Land, of Amida Buddhism. This combination of an Amida Hall and a pond garden is a rare extant example of an arrangement that was apparently commonplace in the Heian Period (the Byodo-in at Uji is the only other extant example dating in the twelfth century ). Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

Kaju-ji

Kaju-ji (also known as Kanshu-ji) was founded as early as 00, and is the main temple of the Yamashina School of Shingon Buddhism. However, its great pond�called Himuro no ike�is supposedly the remnant of the Heian estate of Miyamichi Iyamasu, whose daughter was the bride of a Fujiwara nobleman and whose granddaughter was a consort of the Emperor. In other words, it would have been the central element in a garden located to the south of a noble shinden-style villa, and is one of a number of such remnants of the secular gardens of the Heian (see also the Shoseien). Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden

Katsura

Katsura Imperial Villa was built in the early Edo Period as a residence for Prince Hachijo no Miya Toshihito (157-16). The garden to the south of the villa is a stroll garden and also a boating garden, its pond large enough to accommodate modest vessels. The entire complex recalls the world described in the Tale of Genji, and was undoubtedly intended to evoke the golden age of the Heian courts, when such a pond garden would have been viewed from the southern pavilions of the typical shinden villa. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

Kinkaku-ji

Kinkaku-ji, Temple of the Golden Pavilion, is the popular name of Rokuon-ji, or Temple of the Deer Park. The pavilion itself is the only remaining structure of a retirement villa constructed by the third Ashikaga Shogun�Ashikaga Yoshimitsu�in 14 (this building is actually a reproduction, the original building having been destroyed by an arsonist in 150). It was converted to a Zen temple upon Yoshimitsus death in 140. The pond garden to the south of the pavilion probably dates back to the thirteenth century, when it would have been part of a typical shinden estate. Yoshimitsu may have added rocks and islands in an effort at evoking Hindu-Buddhist cosmology, in which alternating seas and mountain ranges form the basic structure of the universe. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden

Konchi-in

Konchi-in is a subtemple of Nanzen-ji, one of the principal Zen temples of Japan. Its Edo Period garden is notable not only for its formal beauty, but also for the fact that its creation is unusually well documented. The designer was Kobori Enshu, to whom many Kyoto gardens are attributed, often on very little evidence. In this case, however, extant documents indicate that Kobori did indeed design the garden for the head priest of the temple, the severe priest Suden, in anticipation of a visit by Iemitsu, the third of the Tokugawa shoguns. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

Muri-an

In 184, the Meiji soldier and statesman Yamagata Aritomo constructed his private residence near the great Zen temple of Nanzen-ji in eastern Kyoto. The property is famous for a stroll garden located to the east of the house, using the nearby hills of Higashiyama as borrowed scenery, and the waters of the Lake Biwa Canal as the source of its streams. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

Nanzen �ji

One of the most powerful Zen monasteries in Japan, Nanzen-ji was counted among the Gozan the five principal Zen establishments in Kyoto and in 181 was declared number one. The abbots residence in the main complex contains not only important paintings of the Kano School, but also the garden featured on this page (two of Nanzen-jis subtemples Konchin-in and Tenju an also possess important gardens pictured on other pages of this site). Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

Nijo

Nijo Castle was built in the early seventeenth century as a temporary Kyoto residence for the Tokugawa Shogun. Its most famous garden is the one adjoining the Ninomaru Palace. Attributed to Kobori Enshu, it consists of a pond with three islands connected to the shore by bridges, the islands evoking one of the Daoist Isles of the Blest, the crane, and the turtle. Its large number of rocks has led some critics to view the garden as typical of the somewhat excessive designs of the Edo Period. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

Ryoan-ji

Perhaps the most famous of all Japanese dry gardens is that of Ryoan-ji the Temple of the Peaceful Dragon. The garden is simplicity itself�fifteen rocks arranged in a rectangle of raked white gravel�but it has provoked much speculation about its meaning, its specific relationship to Zen thought, and even its origins. Although probably created in the fifteenth century, its current form may date back only to the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. A discussion of its original appearance is included in the history section. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

Ryogen-in

Ryogen-in, a subtemple of the Daitoku-ji complex, was constructed in 150. Within or adjoining the abbots residence are five gardens, the most famous of which is the Ryogintei, a rectangle of moss and stones viewed from the veranda of the abbots house. The group of stones in the center of the garden is thought to represent Mt. Sumeru, the mountain axis of the universe according to Hindu belief, or Horai, the mythical home of Taoist immortals. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden

Saiho-ji

Popularly known as Kokedera (Moss Temple) because of the prevailing ground cover of the garden, Saiho-ji is one of the earliest extant gardens to be associated with Zen thought. It is a large pond garden that was once part of a Jodo temple, in which context it would have evoked the Western Paradise of Amida. When the temple was converted to Zen Buddhism by Muso Soseki in 1, the garden was probably altered to some degree, and Muso is said to have added the rock formations of the upper level. The garden one visits today�heavily wooded and missing the various pavilions that Muso erected on the site�is certainly different from that of the fourteenth century, but it still evokes both the Pure Land of its original Jodo dedication and the inexpressible mystery of Zen. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

Sanzen-in

Sanzen-in is a Tendai Buddhist temple located high in the hills northeast of Kyoto, in the area known as Ohara. It is said to have been founded by Saicho, the priest who introduced Tendai Buddhism to Japan, and as a monzeki temple it counts members of the Imperial family among its abbots. Sanzen-in possesses two seventeenth-century pond gardens of great beauty the Shuheki-en Garden (Garden that Gathers Green), and the Yusei-en Garden (Garden of Pure Presence). Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

Sento

The Sento Palace was constructed early in the seventeenth century within the larger Imperial Palace complex as a residence for the retired Emperor Gomizunoo. The palace no longer exists, but the garden located to the east of the palace has survived in roughly its original form. Attributed to Kobori Enshu, the garden consists of two ponds connected by a narrow waterway and surrounded by paths for strolling. The southern pond contains two islands connected to each other and to the shore, and part of the shore consists of a pebble beach, each stone of which was carefully chosen for its size and shape. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

Shoseien

The Shoseien Garden, popularly known as Kikokutei Hall Garden, is currently part of the Higashihongan-ji Temple (although separated from it physically). Its landscaping�attributed to Ishikawa Jozan and Kobori Enshu�dates to the Edo Period, but the large pond may originally have been part of the Heian estate of Minamoto no Toru, younger son of the Emperor Saga. It is one of a number of such Kyoto ponds that are all that remain of the great gardens of the Heian aristocracy. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

Shugaku-in

Shugaku-in was built by Emperor Gomizunoo in 16 as a retirement estate. Of its three gardens, that of the most elevated area is best preserved. It consists of a large pond garden that makes maximum use of borrowed scenery, or shakkei, since it is located on the slope of a hillside at the foot of Mt. Hiei. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

Shusui-tei

The south end of Kyotos Imperial Palace Park is marked by a beautiful pond garden noted for its bird life. On the western shore of the pond stands the Shusuitei tea house constructed by the Kujo family, its veranda providing the best view of the garden. The Shusuitei bridge spanning the pond from north to south provides a dramatic view of the southern gateway of the Imperial Palace. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

Taizo-in

Taizo-in was founded in 1404 as the oldest subtemple of of the Myoshin-ji complex. Its most famous garden is a dry landscape attributed to the painter Kano Motonobu (1475 155), a resident of the monastery. Understated and difficult to appreciate in photographs, its dry stream bed and associated rocks and plantings are thoroughly in the spirit if not the actual composition of Muromachi landscape painting, a tradition closely associated with this and other Rinzai Zen monasteries in Kyoto. Among other gardens located within the Taizo-in complex is an impressive stream-and-pond garden of the twentieth century, designed by Nakane Kinsaku. In its basic elements it is a larger, wet version of the dry garden attributed to Kano Motonobu. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden

Tenju-an

Tenju-an is one of the many subtemples of Nanzen-ji. It was founded in 16 by Kokanshiren, chief priest of Nanzen-ji, in commemoration of the founding of Nanzen-ji in the previous century. Tenjuans two gardens date back to the founding of the temple, although parts were added or altered in the Edo and Meiji Periods. The more famous of the two is the dry garden located to the east of the main hall, but the pond and stroll garden to the south of the main buildings is also worth visiting. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

Tenryu-ji

Tenryu-ji (Temple of the Heavenly Dragon) is located on the site of a villa erected for the Emperor Gosaga, who retired there in 156. In 1 the complex was converted to a Rinzai Zen temple, and under its first abbot, Muso Soseki, it became one of the five principal Rinzai temples of Kyoto. Its main feature is a relatively small pond garden featuring a famous rock arrangement located along its western shore. This group of stones consists of a cluster of rocks suggesting a mountainous island, a three-slab stone bridge established along the shore line, and a dry cascade constructed on the hillside just behind the bridge. Choose a view point from the map or click Tour the Garden for more views of this garden.

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