Shosei-en is a large garden located close to Kyoto Station and Higashi-Honganji, its parent temple. The garden has a few orange trees which gave it the nickname of "Kikoku-tei" (枳殻邸), the "orange grove". The garden is said to have been built in the Heian era (~900AD) on the site of the residence of the son of emperor Saga. In 1641, Shogun Tokugawa gave the parcel of land to the Hongan-ji temple. The garden was laid out two years later. Fires destroyed the buildings in 1858 and 1864 but rebuilding started almost immediately (1865). The Shosei-en garden is a National Historic Site.
Although the garden occupies almost an entire city block, its entrance is hidden among houses along the only side that is not completely bordered by its outer wall. In front of the entrance is a tall wall made of large stones which have been recycled from other constructions. This is common in Kyoto and Japan in general, but the size of the block is quite large here. Also of interest is the entrance path located just after this wall, after the right turn and before the garden gate. It is a recent design in which the path represents a river. Round tiles show the turbidity of this "river" when it meets obstacles. Hard to explain but very clever!
The garden is organized on the western side of the large pond and include several tea houses, two larger islands (and a few smaller ones), a cherry tree grove (very popular in spring!), an old Chinese bridge, a unique gate (house of a very big wasp, read the sign!) and of course the main buildings. Unfortunately visiting the buildings is not possible, a shame when you see the gorgeous pictures of the pamphlet (which is, by the way, the largest and most beautifully illustrated one you will receive in Kyoto). Recommended for: Access: 500 円 Nearby: Higashi Hongan-ji 東本願寺 (350m), Rakutoihōkan 洛東遺芳館 (550m), the Kyōto Tower 京都タワー (600m), the Hanbei-fu Bento Museum 半兵衛麩弁当美実館 (670m), Kyōto Station 京都駅 (680m), Kanshun-dō 甘春堂 (690m), Toyokuni-jinja 豊国神社 (800m), Sanjusangen-dō 三十三間堂 (860m), Byōdō-ji 平等寺 (930m), Hōjū-ji 法住寺 (950m),... External links: Website, ウィキペディア, Kyoto Navi, Trip Advisor, Kyoto Design, 京都風光, Marutake, そうだ京都, Satellite view, Map Keywords: Japan, 日本, Japon, Kyoto, 京都, 下京, 中京, 上京, 渉成園, Shosei-en garden Statistics: visited on 7 occasions, id 213, 16 photos (28 extra photos can be found in the archive). |
