Kennin-ji (建仁寺)

Kennin-ji (建仁寺)Kennin-ji (建仁寺)Kennin-ji (建仁寺)Kennin-ji (建仁寺)Kennin-ji (建仁寺)Kennin-ji (建仁寺)Kennin-ji (建仁寺)Kennin-ji (建仁寺)Kennin-ji (建仁寺)Kennin-ji (建仁寺)

When you arrive at Kennin-ji and receive the beautiful brochure of the temple you know that there is something special here. And indeed there is: Kennin-ji is the oldest zen temple in Kyoto! It was founded in 1202 by priest Yousai (1141-1215). Yousai travelled twice to China; the second time to actually reach India. But the unstable geopolitical situation prevented him from reaching his Indian goal. Instead, he came in contact with the Zen sect of Buddhism. He also brought back with him the tradition of the tea ceremony, and introduced these two big pillars of what is now traditional Japanese culture. All hail Yousai! Given this little bit of history, one can easily imagine that there will be a few interesting things to see in Kennin-ji...

After entering the temple there is a first dark room on your right which contains one of the most famous paintings in Japan: the wind and thunder gods. All Japanese kids have studied this painting at school, but few actually know where it is. A masterpiece like this is of course a National Treasure. After leaving this room you will probably have the opportunity to try some tea from local vendor who is always setting shop in the temple. The tea is rather good, and a bit salty which is quite rare. Nice souvenir to bring back home...

Behind the tea booth is a large tatami area with a zen garden at its north end. The garden is called Cho-on-tei "潮音庭", which means the "sound of the tide garden". The three stones in the centre represent Buddha and two zen monks. The maple trees of this garden are beautiful in autumn.

Another small rock garden with a single tree in its centre can be found near the tatami's. This garden is called the "circle-triangle-square" garden, the idea behind which is that all things in the universe can be descried with these three forms. String theorists may disagree ;-)

Going back to the tea booth and turning right, you will arrive at the large rock garden in front of the main temple hall, the Hondo. This garden style is called "kare sansui", meaning "dry mountains and water" style. In the hondo are many painted sliding doors (fusuma) from a renowned artist called Hashimoto Kansetsu. One particular painting of a dragon in the clouds is from another artists (Kaiho Yusho).

From the south east corner of the garden you can reach the Hou-do building (change of slippers required). Kennin-ji has a funny system to reach the Hou-do: you have to use a code on a keypad, but the code is very, very simple and you can see the wear on the keys to be pressed (explanations are provided in English, don't worry). The hou-do has a large painting of two dragons on its ceiling. This painting is very recent (2002) and made for the 800th anniversary of the temple. It took two years to complete. Similar paintings can be found in many temples, such as Tenryu-ji (天龍時, which actually means "temple of the ceiling dragon"), Shokoku-ji (相国寺), etc... The one in Kenin-ji, however, is unique in that it can be photographed as it is very recent.

From the west side of the hondo leaves a small path (again, use the provided special slippers) that leads to the tea house of the temple called the Toyo-bo and built in 1587 by military leader Hideyoshi Toyotomi. The tea house was actually moved several times before landing in Kennin-ji, so it's not "the first tea house in Kyoto" in any way.

The open grounds of the temple have a few other halls and gates. The "imperial messenger gate", located at the southern extremity of the temple grounds, still bear arrow marks from the feudal wars that raged in Japan. Few of the smaller temples located around the main grounds can be visited, however.

(Note that the temple is under renovation until 2014 as part of its 800th anniversary. Some views shown in the pictures below may be partially or completely obstructed by scaffolding)

Recommended for: Access: 500 円

Nearby: Yasui Kompira-gū 安井金比羅宮 (170m), Saifuku-ji 西福寺 (290m), Miyagawa-cho 宮川町 (310m), Rokuhara Mitsui-dera 六波羅蜜寺 (350m), Hana-Kitchō 花吉兆 (370m), Humorous shrine 壹錢大明神 (420m), Tōkei-ji 東景寺 (450m), Kongō-ji 金剛寺 (470m), Shirakawa 白川町 (490m), Entoku-in 圓徳院 (500m),...

External links: Website, ウィキペディア, Wikipedia, Wikipédia, Kyoto Navi, Trip Advisor, Kyoto Design, 京都風光, Inside Kyoto, Marutake, そうだ京都

Keywords: Japan, 日本, Japon, Kyoto, 京都, Higashiyama, Kennin-ji, 建仁寺, temple, 寺院, 仏閣

Statistics: visited on 14 occasions, id 190, 118 photos (63 extra photos can be found in the archive).

In Kennin-ji:

Ryōsoku-in (兩足院)
Ryōsoku-in (兩足院)
 
Reigen-in (霊源院)
Reigen-in (霊源院)
 
Shōdeneigen-in (正伝永源院)
Shōdeneigen-in (正伝永源院)
 
Seirai-in (西来院)
Seirai-in (西来院)
 
Marishisonten-dō (摩利支尊天堂)
Marishisonten-dō (摩利支尊天堂)
 
Zenkyo-an (禅居庵)
Zenkyo-an (禅居庵)
 
Kyūshō-in (久昌院)
Kyūshō-in (久昌院)
 
Daitō-in (大統院)
Daitō-in (大統院)
 
Daichū-in (大中院)
Daichū-in (大中院)
 
Photos of Kennin-ji:

Zen garden and autumn colors
Window on a small zen garden
Gate of the Seirai-in (西来院) subtemple of Kennin-ji (建仁寺)
Ceiling painting of dragons, Kenin-ji temple
Kennin-ji temple new roof, Kyoto, Japan
The entrance of the founder's hall of Kennin-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Bamboo grove in Kennin-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
The roof of Kennin-ji temple gate with autumn colours, Kyoto, Japan
Bellflower-shaped window with view on Kennin-ji temple rock garden, Kyoto, Japan
Bright autumn colors over the inner moss garden of Kennin-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Monk clearing snow in front of Kennin-ji temple Founder's Hall, Kyoto, Japan
Light snow cover on the rock garden of Kennin-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Snow covered zen garden of Kennin-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Karesansui zen garden of Kennin-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
A touch of floral goodness in the exquisite dry landscape garden of Kennin-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Man meditating on edge of zen garden with white flowring bush, Kennin-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Kennin-ji temple's inner moss garden, Kyoto, Japan
Tsukubai water basin in the inner moss garden of Kennin-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Green moss inner garden, Kennin-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Kennin-ji temple's inner moss garden, Kyoto, Japan
The inner moss-and-maple garden of Kennin-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Kennin-ji temple's inner moss garden, Kyoto, Japan
Fallen camellia on a rock and moss garden in Kennin-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Moss garden with autumn colours, Kennin-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Late autumn and fallen leaves on the inner garden of Kennin-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Last light on the inner garden of Kennin-ji in autumn, Kyoto, Japan
Last light and late autumn colours on the inner garden of Kennin-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Golden light in hall behind inner moss and rock garden of Kennnin-ji temple in autumn, Kyoto, Japan
Golden room and last light on the inner moss garden of Kennin-ji temple in autumn, Kyoto, Japan
Late evening light on Kennin-ji temple inner garden in autumn, Kyoto, Japan
Main gate door detail and autumn colors of a subtemple of Kennin-ji, Kyoto, Japan