Shōbō-ji (正法寺)

Shōbō-ji (正法寺)

Shobo-ji was established in 754 by a monk called Chii. Chii was a disciple of Ganjin, who built the Toshidai-ji temple in Nara. Like many temples in Kyoto, Shobo-ji was burned during the Onin war, and later reconstructed in 1615.

The temple has a couple of interesting zen gardens, especially the one in front of the study. It is called the "Beasts and birds garden", after the shape of some of its rocks. The temple grounds are slightly elevated compared to the rest of the valley, which gives a clear view of the surrounding area. This prompted the creators of the garden to use the "borrowed landscape" technique to "add" elements such as the distant mountains to the garden design. Unfortunately the study is bordered on one side by an artificial water retention reservoir, which is not the best neighbour for a zen temple.

Shobo-ji's current personnel is paying particular attention to flowers; ikebana can be seen here and there on the temple grounds and in the buildings. The tsukubai water basin is usually decorated with flowers.

The temple is not very convenient to reach, being a bit isolated in the Oharano (大原野) valley. Such is, however, the fate of most temples in this wide area. From Shobo-ji, a little walk or drive will lead you to Yoshimine-dera (善峯寺), the bamboo road (竹の径), Jurin-ji (十輪寺) and Sanko-ji (三鈷寺), or even Komyo-ji (光明寺) further south.

Recommended for: Access: 300 円

Nearby: Oharano Jinja 大原野神社 (260m), Shōji-ji / Hana-dera 勝持寺・花寺 (550m)

External links: Website, ウィキペディア, Wikipedia, Kyoto Navi, Kyoto Design, 京都風光, Marutake, Satellite view, Map

Keywords: Japan, 日本, Japon, Kyoto, 京都, Nishikyo, Shobo-ji, 正法寺, temple, 寺院, 仏閣

Statistics: visited on 6 occasions, id 376, 12 photos (28 extra photos can be found in the archive).

Photos of Shōbō-ji:

Shidare sakura over Japanese garden, Shōbō-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Weeping cherry blossoms in the garden of Shobo-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Weeping shidare cherry blooming over rock garden, Shobo-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Shidare sakura and dry landscape garden, Shobo-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Red pagoda and cherry blossoms, Shobo-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Ikebana in bamboo vase at the entrance of Shobo-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Bright autumn colours at the entrance of Shobo-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Lone golden lantern in a small inner garden of Shobo-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Small cute metallic lantern with round patterns in Shobo-ji temple gardens, Kyoto, Japan
Arched bridge and autumn colours in Shobo-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan